Öberg: The economic situation
Summary
First Deputy Governor Svante Öberg held a speech at Västerbotten Chamber of Commerce in Umeå on Thursday. He gave an account of the Riksbank's assessment of the economic situation in the Monetary Policy Report published in July this year, and noted that the statistics on the Swedish economy received over the summer were in line with the forecasts. At the same time, he noted that developments in the financial markets were dramatic during the summer and that this has increased uncertainty regarding the future. In this context, he also took up a number of important questions that the Executive Board of the Riksbank will discuss at its next monetary policy meeting on 6 September.
Mr Öberg also said that the Swedish banks are stable. They are financially strong, have good access to funding and a good capacity to manage even a potentially weaker development. But as they are also dependent on funding in foreign currency, they are of course sensitive to problems abroad. The Riksbank is therefore following developments closely and has the capacity to lend both Swedish kronor and foreign currency to the banks. However, so far there has been nothing to indicate that this is necessary.
Read the speech in full in the PDF below.