Riksbank governor Erik Thedéen holds a press conference about the decision to keep the policy rate unchanged at 4.0 percent.
– The biggest reason why we revised since the last meeting is that the labor market looks somewhat worse, says Thedéen.
Riksbank Governor Thedéen states that inflation is still high, and that there are risks that it will continue to be so. Therefore, he wants to make it clear that they can still introduce another increase in the interest rate.
Communicating that there may be another increase is, according to several assessors, something that is said to keep inflation expectations down. An expectation of high inflation usually leads to inflation actually rising.
But the Riksbank continuously looks at incoming data. The assessment right now is that inflation will continue to fall.
– There is reason for some optimism, but also reason for some vigilance, says Thedéen.
The Riksbank conducts its own investigation to see if the companies plan to raise their prices.
– It shows that the price plans have come down, says Åsa Olli Segendorf, head of the department for monetary policy.
Today’s press conference is held in Jönköping. The reason is that the authority is testing its crisis preparedness, which includes being able to manage operations from another location.