Sweden's Economy Unexpectedly Contracts in Blow to Central Bank
Sweden’s economy unexpectedly shrank in the second quarter, casting further doubts on the Riksbank’s plans to continue to raise rates.
Gross domestic product contracted 0.1% in the second quarter from the first, according to preliminary numbers from Statistics Sweden Tuesday. Economists had predicted an expansion of 0.3%. Annual growth was 1.4% while economists and the Riksbank had predicted an expansion of 1.9% and 1.8%, respectively.
Key Insights
• According to Statistics Sweden, the quarterly contraction was mainly caused by gross fixed capital formation, which decreased by 1.1%. Exports and imports decreased by 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively, while household consumption grew by 0.6%.
• The data, which was released early as a result of a mistake at the statistics agency, comes after first-quarter numbers showed that the economy expanded three times faster than estimated at the beginning of the year.
• The Riksbank earlier this month said it still expects to hike rates toward the end of this year or early next year, though many economists doubt it will be able to do so given a slowing economy. Minutes from the meeting also showed that policy makers are growing increasingly uncertain about the planned hike as the world’s major central banks prepare to add more stimulus and growth cools.
• The preliminary second-quarter GDP data is published by Statistics Sweden to provide the government with figures for its autumn budget work. The so-called flash estimate has historically been subject to large revisions when final data is published in September.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-30/sweden-s-economy-unexpectedly-contracts-in-blow-to-central-bank