Riksbank Delays Rate Rise Until Late 2014 Amid Krona Surge

Sweden’s central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for a second meeting and delayed tightening to the second half of 2014 after the surging krona brought inflation to standstill.

The Riksbank’s six-member board voted 4-2 to keep the repo rate at 1 percent after lowering it four times since December 2011, according to a statement on its website today. The decision was predicted by all of the 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The bank reduced its forecast for the rate to 0.9 percent for the first quarter next year from a previous assessment of 1.2 percent.