Pressure Is Building in Sweden to Cast Off Fiscal Restraints
- Government allies want to do away with budget surplus target
- Sweden’s government debt levels sliding below 35% of GDP
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Clamor is growing for Sweden to throw off its fiscal shackles after years of spending restraint that has driven debt down to levels not seen in four decades.
The push is coming from think tanks on both the left and right, unions, newspaper editorials, bank economists and now finally, politicians. Sweden has massive spending needs to support its welfare system, take care of an aging population, build out its defense and police as well as its infrastructure. A fiscal boost would also help the nation’s central bank, which is struggling to lift interest rates above zero amid slowing economic growth.