Why did you hold the repo rate unchanged this time?
The signs of a turnaround in the economy have become increasingly clear, but the recovery is from a very low level. The repo rate needs to be low over a long period of time to come to enable a stable recovery in the economy and to attain the inflation target of 2 per cent. This is why we have held it unchanged at 0.25 per cent.
Has the economic recession bottomed out?
The relatively strong GDP fall in the Swedish economy is probably now behind us. We believe that GDP will begin to increase during the third quarter of this year. At the same time, the labour market situation will remain difficult in coming years, with falling employment and rising unemployment. The labour market situation will not begin to improve again until 2011.
Why are you offering a new loan at a fixed interest rate?
Although the situation on the financial markets has improved, it has not entirely normalised. We therefore need to implement this supplementary measure to ensure our monetary policy has the intended effect. Just as we did in July, we are now lending SEK 100 billion to the banks at a fixed interest rate and with a maturity of approximately 12 months. This should contribute to interest rates on loans to households and companies remaining low.