Swedish Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson has warned that Sweden may be facing a recession this winter that may last years, citing forecasts showing protracted economic turbulence.
Finance Minister Svantesson gave a press conference Thursday warning that Sweden faced a difficult economic situation and that the country will likely enter a recession this winter.
“What the forecasts now show is that the winter looks to be more protracted than we thought before,” Svantesson said, the broadcaster SVT reports.
The Minister’s remarks come a day after the National Institute of Economic Research (NIER) released a forecast stating that the recession the country enters in the coming year could last all the way until 2025.
“Of course, forecasts are always uncertain, but in a situation of energy crisis throughout Europe, energy prices that are volatile and a war in our immediate area, the uncertainties are greater than in a very long time,” Minister Svantesson said.
The Ministry of Finance expects Swedish GDP will fall overall by around 0.7 per cent next year, while inflation is expected to rise higher than previous estimates.
“The Swedish economy and Swedish households will be squeezed over the next few years,” Minister Svantesson said and noted that some government programmes, such as student aid, sickness benefit and old age pensions would be increased. Starting in February, the government will also pay support to households for electricity.
As early as October some speculated that European countries would be heading into a recession due to high inflation and an energy crisis.
A month later, the European Union acknowledged that most EU countries would be heading into a recession as well.
“The EU is among the most exposed advanced economies (to high prices), due to its geographical proximity to the war and heavy reliance on gas imports from Russia,” the European Commission said and added, “The energy crisis is eroding households’ purchasing power and weighing on production.”
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.
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