Riksbank Increases Bond Purchases as Key Rate Left Unchanged

Sweden’s central bank beefed up its offering of unconventional measures to revive inflation in the biggest Nordic economy, but unexpectedly kept its main interest rate unchanged.

The repo rate was held at minus 0.25 percent after two cuts earlier in the year, the Stockholm-based bank said on Wednesday. Policy makers will instead step up their fight against disinflation by buying another 40 billion kronor ($4.7 billion) to 50 billion kronor in government bonds, adding to the 40 billion kronor in purchases announced since February.