STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -An easing cycle in Sweden that has seen eight rate cuts since spring last year, including a quarter point cut last week, is probably over, minutes of the Riksbank’s most recent monetary policy meeting showed on Monday.
The Riksbank cut its policy rate to 1.75% from 2.00% on September 23 arguing underlying inflation was heading toward the 2.0% target – and probably lower – leaving room for rate-setters to give a sluggish economy a final boost.
“Even though some risks remain, the arguments in favour of lowering the interest rate and thereby providing further stimulus to demand in the economy outweigh the counterarguments,” Riksbank Governor Erik Thedeen said.
“As I now judge the situation, this will probably be the last cut in this interest rate cycle.”
(Reporting by Simon Johnson, Niklas Pollard, Johan Ahlander and Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm, Terje Solsvik in Oslo; Editing by Niklas Pollard and Terje Solsvik)
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