Swedish Growth Quickens, Signaling Interest-Rate Increases

Swedish economic growth unexpectedly accelerated in the second quarter, underlining the likelihood that the central bank will press ahead with planned interest-rate increases to cool Europe’s biggest economic expansion.

Gross domestic product grew more than estimated in the three months through June, increasing a seasonally adjusted 1 percent, up from 0.8 percent in the previous quarter, Stockholm-based Statistics Sweden said today. That compares with a median estimate of 0.6 percent in a survey of 16 economists. Annual growth slowed to 5.3 percent from 6.4 percent in the first three months.