HELSINKI, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) — The Swedish government will allocate 80 billion Swedish kronor (8.45 billion U.S. dollars) in its upcoming autumn budget to bolster household confidence and economic growth, Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson announced on Thursday.
Speaking at a press conference in Harpsund, the official country residence of the Swedish prime minister, Svantesson said the new resources will be directed toward initiatives beginning in 2026.
“Many hard-working people and households are worried, and purchasing power has declined. We want to create confidence among Swedish families,” she said, adding that the government hopes the reform space will stimulate economic development.
Svantesson noted that households have endured “a testing time” over the past five years, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, high energy prices, inflation, U.S. trade tariffs, and geopolitical conflicts in Europe. She warned that purchasing power may not fully recover until 2028 or 2029.
The 80-billion-kronor package represents a sharp increase compared to previous years. The government earmarked 60 billion kronor for new measures in 2025 and 40 billion in 2024. By contrast, the National Institute of Economic Research (NIER) had estimated a reform space of only 34 billion kronor for the upcoming budget.
The full budget will be presented on Sept. 22. According to the minister, other proposals under discussion include tax cuts, reduced value-added tax on food, and higher child allowances.
Elisabeth Marmorstein, political commentator at Swedish Television (SVT), described the reform space as “generous,” noting that the government aims to encourage households to spend again and thereby support growth.
Earlier this month, NIER revised its 2025 economic growth forecast downward from 0.9 percent to 0.7 percent, highlighting the increasing importance of domestic demand in driving recovery. Statistics Sweden reported that the country’s economy grew by just 0.1 percent in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter, largely due to weak household consumption. (1 Swedish krona = 0.11 U.S. dollar)
