2010
Press release 03 September 2010 Ministry of Finance
International press conference with Minister for Finance Anders Borg
Due to great demand from the international media, Anders Borg invites foreign journalists to a press conference on the Swedish economy, the financial troubles in Europe and his view of the Swedish election campaign, to be held on 8 September. The press conference will be held in English. Mr Borg will be available afterwards for brief interviews.
The press conference will be held in English. Please note that accreditation is required - apply to [email protected] before 17.00 on Monday 6 September.
Please bring your press credentials. We look forward to seeing you.
Time and place
14.00 on 8September 2010 International Press Centre, Fredsgatan 6, Stockholm.
Contact
Anna Charlotta Johansson Press Secretary +46 8405 10 00
Markus Sjöqvist Press Secretary to Anders Borg +46 8405 10 00
Press release 23 July 2010 Ministry of Finance
European stress test shows good results for Swedish banks
The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) has in cooperation with the national supervisory authorities conducted a stress test on European banks, among these four Swedish banks. The results confirm previous Swedish stress tests. The Ministry of Finance acknowledges the outcome of the EU-wide stress test and supports this joint effort.
"It is pleasing that we have been able to convey the traditional Swedish policy of openness and transparency. The publication of the stress test results, also for individual banks, is very important in order to restore confidence in the European banking system," says Minister for Finance Anders Borg.
External links
Web page of Finansinspektionen Web page of CEBS
The stress test was applied to 91 banks in total, representing a aggregate market share of the European banking sector of more than 65 percent. The stress test includes a hypothetical scenario based on the assumption of a recession both in 2010 and 2011 as well as a significant increase in interest rates. In addition, banks' exposures to sovereign risk is tested.
The objective of the stress test is to assess the banks strength and ability to manage economic chocks and to identify possible capital needs. In the interpretation of this outcome, the results of the adverse scenario should not be considered as representative of the current situation. A stress testing exercise does not provide forecasts of expected outcomes since the adverse scenarios are designed as "what-if" scenarios including plausible but extreme assumptions, which are therefore not very likely to materialize. Experience from the United States and Sweden has shown that this type of tests re-establish confidence in the banking system.
The results of the now performed test show that the four Swedish banks pass the test requirements well above margin. The Swedish banks are well capitalised and are resilient to withstand possible negative chocks.
"It is very satisfying to see how well the Swedish banks perform in this stress test. The results confirm the positive outcome of previous Swedish stress tests made by the financial supervisory authority and the central bank," says Minister for Financial Markets Mats Odell.
The Ministry of Finance is nevertheless committed to secure financial stability, should the economic conditions worsen and private funding not be sufficient. Even though the Swedish banks are well capitalised and the dependence on Government support is low, the support measures should not be withdrawn too early. In view of the concerns regarding public finances in some countries and the contagion risk, the Government has made the assessment that the support measures should remain in place for cautionary purposes. Through the support measures that the Government has introduced since the outburst of the financial crisis, the Government can act forcefully in order to manage different situations that may arise. For this purpose, Sweden has currently in place a guarantee scheme and a recapitalisation scheme. All measures need to comply fully with EU state aid rules.
The guarantee scheme has recently been extended and is currently in place until to 31 December 2010. The total financial limit for the guarantee scheme is 1,500 billion Swedish kronor, and the outstanding guarantees by the end of June 2010 was approximately 200 billion Swedish kronor. The recapitalisation scheme has been extended and runs up until the 17th February 2011. It comprises at most SEK 50 billion, and as of June 2010 5.6 billion Swedish kronor has been utilized.
For information regarding the stress test results of individual banks see Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority website www.fi.se and CEBS website www.c-ebs.org
Contact
Daniel Valiollahi Press Secretary +46 8405 10 00
Sarah Lundgren Acting Press Secretary to Mats Odell +46 8405 22 17 +46 70 385 99 91
Press release 28May 2010 Ministry of Finance Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Press invitation: World Bank Senior Vice President Justin Yifu Lin, Minister for Finance Anders Borg and Minister for Internatio
In connection with the opening of the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) taking place in Stockholm, May 31- June 2 at Clarion Hotel Sign, Stockholm, Anders Borg, Minister for Finance and Gunilla Carlsson, Minister for International Development Cooperation, and Justin Yifu Lin, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at the World Bank, will hold a Press Conference.
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Time and place
Monday 31 May at 08h30-09h10 in Press Conference RoomC4, Clarion Hotel Sign, Östra Järnvägsgatan 35.
At the ABCDE - Conference there will be opportunities to meet and undertake interviews with some of the world's most prominent and influential thinkers and researchers in development economics.
Download
Agenda ABCDE as of May 26 (pdf 258kB) Plenary Sessions and Development Debate, Keynote, Author, and Discussant Bios (pdf 256 kB)
The ABCDE - Conference will be hosted by the Swedish Minister of Finance, Mr Anders Borg and the Swedish Minister of International Development Cooperation, Ms Gunilla Carlsson and The World Bank. Speakers include Nobel Laureates Elinor Ostrom, Joseph Stiglitz, Eric Maskin, James Mirrlees and Robert Solow as well as World Bank Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, Justin Yifu Lin.
Research issues to be discussed cover some of the most urgent global challenges, such as environment and climate change, development in light of the financial and economic crisis, fragile states and human and social developments. The conference will be rounded off with a Development Debate on "Development Challenges in a Post-Crisis World", with three Nobel Laureates. The debate will be part of the World Bank's new Development Debates initiative. This session will be moderated by BBC Economics Editor, Ms. Stephanie Flanders.
External links
ABCDE Sweden - Development Challenges in a Post-Crisis World at World Worldbank's website
The ABCDE-Conference was first organized in 1989 and has, since then, been established as one of the most prominent annual conferences on development economics. This year's conference is being co-organised by the Swedish Government and the World Bank, and it will gather around 600 delegates and experts from all over the world. For more information about the conference and to access an updated agenda you will find a link to the conference website: www.sweden.gov.se/abcde2010
Media Accreditation:
Accreditation is necessary and journalists are invited to register with Ms. Pernilla Stålhammar, [email protected] at the ABCDE-Secretariat. If possible, please register by sending an email with your name, title, and affiliation. Requests for interviews are welcome and we will try to accommodate such requests, provided the persons concerned have time available.
Conference badges will be handed out at the registration desk at Clarion Sign Hotel. The Registration desk will be open May 30 15h10-20h30, May 31-June 1 07h30-19h10 and June 2 07h30-13h10. Please note that conference badges for media will only be issued upon presentation of press credentials bearing a photograph. A Press Centre will be open May 31-June 1 08h10-19h10 and June 2 08h10-15h10.
Contact
Pernilla Stålhammar ABCDE-Secretariat, Department for Development Policy, Ministry for Foreign Affairs +46 8405 49 64 +46 72 230 31 26
Sara Brandt-Hansen Press Officer, Ministry for Foreign Affairs +46 8405 81 03 +46 702 57 56 56
Julia Hector Desk Officer, ABCDE-Secretariat, Department for Development Policy, Ministry for Foreign Affairs +46 8405 82 02 +46 70 300 77 53
Anna Charlotta Johansson Press Secretary +46 8405 10 00
Peter Larsson +46 8405 10 00
Dr Mia Horn af Rantzien Director of ABCDE-Secretariat, Ministry for Foreign Affairs +46 8405 52 57 +46 76 140 24 00
email to Dr Mia Horn af Rantzien
Press release 20 May 2010 Ministry of Finance Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Economic heavyweights come to Stockholm to discuss development challenges in a post-crisis world
We invite you to take part in, broadcast, and undertake interviews with some of the world's most prominent and influential thinkers and researchers in development economics at the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) held in Stockholm, May 31-June 2 at Clarion Hotel, Sign.
Please note, that due to a very big interest in the conference, we can unfortunately not accept any more participants as we have reached maximum capacity. This invitation is for the media only.
The conference will be hosted by the Swedish Minister of Finance, Mr Anders Borg and the Swedish Minister of International Development Cooperation, Ms Gunilla Carlsson and The World Bank. Speakers include Nobel Laureates Elinor Ostrom, Joseph Stiglitz, Eric Maskin, James Mirrlees and Robert Solow as well as World
Download
Bank Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, Justin Yifu Lin.
Agenda ABCDE as of May 26 (pdf 258kB) Plenary Sessions and Development Debate, Keynote, Author, and Discussant Bios (pdf 256 kB)
Research issues to be discussed cover some of the most urgent global challenges, such as environment and climate change, development in light of the financial and economic crisis, fragile states and human and social developments. The conference will be rounded off with a Development Debate on "Development Challenges in a Post-Crisis World", with three Nobel Laureates. The debate will be part of the World Bank's new Development Debates initiative. This session will be moderated by BBC Economics Editor, Ms. Stephanie Flanders.
External links
The ABCDE-Conference was first organized in 1988 and has, since then, been established as one of the most prominent annual conferences on development economics. This year's conference is being co-organised by the Swedish Government and the World Bank, and it will gather around 600 delegates and experts from all over the world. For more information about the conference and to access an updated agenda you will find a link to the conference website under External links.
ABCDE Sweden - Development Challenges in a Post-Crisis World at World Worldbank's website
Media Accreditation:
Accreditation is necessary and journalists are invited to register with Ms Pernilla Stålhammar, [email protected] at the ABCDE-Secretariat. If possible, please register by sending an email with your name, title, and affiliation no later than May 25. Requests for interviews are welcome and we will try to accommodate such requests, provided the persons concerned have time available.
Conference badges will be handed out at the registration desk at Clarion Sign Hotel. The Registration desk will be open May 30 15h10-20h30, May 31-June 1 07h30-19h10 and June 2 07h30-13h10. Please note that conference badges for media will only be issued upon presentation of press credentials bearing a photograph. A Press Centre will be open May 31-June 1 08h10-19h10 and June 2 08h10-15h10.
Contact
Anna Charlotta Johansson Press Secretary +46 8405 10 00
Peter Larsson +46 8405 10 00
Dr Mia Horn af Rantzien Director of ABCDE-Secretariat, Ministry for Foreign Affairs +46 8405 52 57 +46 76 140 24 00
email to Dr Mia Horn af Rantzien
Julia Hector Desk Officer, ABCDE-Secretariat, Department for Development Policy, Ministry for Foreign Affairs +46 8405 82 02 +46 70 300 77 53
Pernilla Stålhammar ABCDE-Secretariat, Department for Development Policy, Ministry for Foreign Affairs +46 8405 49 64 +46 72 230 31 26
Sara Brandt-Hansen Press Officer, Ministry for Foreign Affairs +46 8405 81 03 +46 702 57 56 56
Press release 20 April 2010 Ministry of Finance
Nordic countries welcome approved review of Iceland's IMF programme
The Nordic countries - Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden - support Iceland's efforts for economic recovery by providing bilateral loans totalling 1.775 billion euro for disbursement in four equal tranches in the context of Iceland's economic programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and under the condition that Iceland will honour its international obligations.
We welcome Iceland's Letter of Intent in connection with the second IMF-review of its economic programme, in which Iceland clearly reaffirms its commitment to honour its obligations in regard to the insured retail depositors of the intervened Icelandic banks and its preparedness to conclude - at the earliest convenience - negotiations with the Governments of the United Kingdomand the Netherlands regarding settlement of this matter. We strongly support Iceland's continued efforts in this regard.
The Nordic countries welcome the IMF Board's approval of the second review of Iceland's economic stabilization and reform programme on 16 April 2010 and the broad international support thereof. We have nowmade the second tranche of the Nordic loans available to Iceland.
Joint press release between Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden
Contact
Anna Charlotta Johansson Press Secretary +46 8405 10 00
Daniel Valiollahi Press Secretary +46 8405 10 00
Anna Björnermark, Deputy Director International Department + 46 8405 14 17
Press release 15 April 2010 Ministry of Finance
2010 Spring Fiscal Policy Bill
Stronger policies to promote employment while safeguarding public finances - in the Spring Fiscal Policy Bill the Government states the direction it will take to nurture economic recovery and maps out Sweden's path forward for exit from the crisis. In total, the Government is committing a further SEK 4.9 billion during 2010. The aim is to ensure that those who have suffered most from the crisis do not get left behind and to stimulate the demand for labour.
The economic recovery appears to be arriving sooner and turning out stronger than the Government estimated in the Budget Bill for 2010. Growth of 2.5 per cent is expected this year, followed by 3.9 per cent next year. Unemployment is expected to begin to decline and employment to increase in the course of this
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year.
Key indicators fromthe 2010 Spring Fiscal Policy Bill 2009-
"There are various indications that Sweden has coped with the crisis better than many other countries, thanks to responsible financial policies,"says Minister for Finance Anders Borg. "But the economy is still fragile and certain groups have been hit hard by the crisis. Moreover, it is important to ensure that a high rate of unemployment does not become persistent. Consequently, in connection with this Spring Fiscal Policy Bill too, we are proposing a number of measures to continue to lessen the impact of the crisis and nurture economic recovery."
2014 (pdf 78kB)
Measures to lessen the impact of the crisis and nurture recovery
Pensioners and families with children have been hit particularly hard by the crisis. It is important that these groups do not get left behind. The Government therefore proposes:
a further reduction in income tax for pensioners a rise in the large-family supplement to the child allowance.
The Government is also working to ensure that jobs return early in the recovery and to prevent bottlenecks arising that may prevent employment from growing. A series of labour market policy measures have already been implemented but they are now being further reinforced. Some of the measures proposed in the Spring Fiscal Policy Bill are:
a temporary shortening of the qualifying period for new start jobs for older people from 12 to 6 months, which will make it easier for older unemployed people to return to the labour market a temporary summer initiative for young people in school, in the formof summer jobs and summer school special action for the Västra Götaland region including more places in training schemes.
To further strengthen employment, certain planned infrastructure investments are also being brought forward. In addition, resources will be made available to enable several major infrastructure projects to be carried out over the next ten years in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Sundsvall and Motala.
To create a better business climate so as to increase productivity, the Government proposes to eliminate audit obligations for small enterprises and simplify VAT reporting.
Important to bring public finances back into surplus
As a result of the brighter outlook for the Swedish economy, the public finances will develop more favourably than the Government estimated in its Budget Bill for 2010. It now looks as if the public finances will strengthen to approach the surplus target at a satisfactory pace without measures needing to be taken to bolster the budget. The forecasts show a public finances surplus of more than 1 per cent as early as 2013. However, this is conditional in part on phasing out the temporary measures taken to combat the crisis as the state of the economy improves.
"It is important for several reasons that we bring public finances back into surplus. One of the reasons is so that we are in a strong position to meet future economic downturns. Another is to respect the targets we have set so as to maintain confidence in financial policy and long-termsustainable finances."
Contact
Anna Charlotta Johansson Press Secretary +46 8405 10 00
Daniel Valiollahi Press Secretary +46 8405 10 00
Press release 28January 2010 Ministry for Foreign Affairs Ministry of Finance
Ministers Bildt, Borg and Carlsson to Davos
Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt, Minister for Finance Anders Borg and Minister for International Development Cooperation Gunilla Carlsson will travel this week to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to take part in seminars and meet political and business leaders.
On Friday 29 January, Mr Bildt will take part in the 'Interactive Dinner Session: Meet the Peacemakers', where Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe will also be participating. Together with Ms Carlsson, Carl Bildt will also be taking part in the 'Food Security, Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture' seminar and they will both be meeting President of the International Red Cross, Jakob Kellenberger. On Saturday 30 January, Mr Bildt will be taking part in the session 'Climate Change: From Copenhagen to Mexico'. During his stay, Mr Bildt will also hold several bilateral meetings including one with Colombia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jaime Bermudez Merizalde.
