Riksbank's annual report 2002; stronger krona reduced earnings
The Riksbank today presents its annual report for 2002 to the Riksdag (the Swedish parliament).
The Riksbank reports a loss before appropriations of SEK 71 million for 2002. This can be compared with the previous year, when the Riksbank reported a profit of SEK 19.3 billion. The poor result for 2002 was largely due to the strengthening of the krona against the currencies in the foreign currency reserve. As the reserve is valued at market prices, a stronger krona leads to a decline in the Riksbank's earnings. The krona appreciation led to an exchange loss of SEK 13.2 billion.
At the same time, lower interest rates meant an increase in the value of the Riksbank's holdings of bonds. This had a positive result of SEK 6.7 billion on earnings.
The Riksbank's earnings over the past five years are shown in the table below. The earnings vary considerably, primarily as a result of changes in the value of the krona and in interest rates abroad.
|
2002 |
2001 |
2000 |
1999 |
1998 |
| Interest income |
7 220 |
9 197 |
9 572 |
8 347 |
8 781 |
| Price effect |
6 670 |
269 |
5 131 |
-6 328 |
4 341 |
| Exchange effect |
-13 161 |
9 133 |
6 224 |
2 308 |
9 685 |
| Goldvaluation effect |
774 |
2008 |
654 |
940 |
- |
| Other costs |
-1 574 |
-1 330 |
-1 272 |
-1 072 |
-944 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Earnings for the year |
-71 |
19 277 |
20 309 |
3 925 |
21 863 |
The item "Other costs" largely consists of the costs for banknotes and coins, personnel, administration and changes in the valuation of the Riksbank's subsidiaries. As a step towards reforming cash management and making it more efficient, the Riksbank's subsidiary with responsibility for this has been divided up into two companies; Svensk Kontantförsörjning AB and Pengar i Sverige AB. This division has been made to facilitate the sale of operations to private ownership. In the balance sheet the value of Svensk Kontantförsörjning AB has been written down by SEK 435 million, which is charged against the earnings for the year. A new organisation for cash management will come into force in February 2003 and work is under way to eventually transfer both companies to private ownership.
