He was finance minister during the last major financial crisis. Now it’s bad economic times again – but Anders Borg has happy news: He thinks we have the worst behind us. “During March and April, inflation in most countries starts to come down,” he says. The former finance minister refers to figures that came out on Friday that inflation in the eurozone is falling more than expected. In Sweden, inflation was measured at 12 percent in February. Will go down faster in the future Anders Borg is still optimistic. — Inflation is starting to go down. We received figures from the Eurozone but a clear decline of 6.5 to 8.5 percent. During March and April, inflation in most countries starts to come down, says Anders Borg, business profile and former finance minister. Jenny: Why is it going down faster in other countries than in Sweden? — It depends on several reasons, but if you look twelve to 24 months ahead, things will probably go faster in Sweden. We got a salary agreement of 3.5-4 percent here yesterday. This means that the pace of wage growth next year is compatible with price stability – wages are rising much faster in the rest of the world. Our business community is about to gain strong competitiveness, says Anders Borg in Nyhetsmorgon. Calls for caution around the interest rate He sees that the decline in the retail trade and in the construction industry will cause inflation to stop. — I think that with low wages and – unfortunately – the huge slowdown in retail trade and construction, I don’t think that Sweden will produce that much inflation in one to two years’ time. When it comes to interest rates, Anders Borg believes that the Riksbank will raise it once more, but then he urges caution. — Housing interest rates are rising faster in Sweden than in other countries because we have variable interest rates and, in addition, households are quite heavily leveraged. This means that interest rates bite much harder in Sweden than in other countries. In that situation, it is quite wise to take it cautiously, says Anders Borg. Hear Anders Borg in the clip in the player above Anders Borg about his investments in the tech industry and about AI
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Anders Borg: Worst crisis behind us – inflation on the way down
