The Trader's Guide to the Euro Area: Economic Indicators, the ECB and the Euro Crisis

Chapter 13

Sweden

The Riksbank is the world’s oldest central bank. It is independent with an explicit inflation target. The target currently stands at 2%. The central bank lacks an explicit time horizon for a return of inflation to its target when deviations occur, though it normally aims for a return in two years.1 The headline CPI reading is the inflation measure for the official target.

The Riksbank paid special attention to CPIX prior to 2008, though that measure’s special status has been revoked. CPIX excludes households’ mortgage interest expenditure and the direct effects of changes in indirect taxes and subsidies.

In June 2008, Riksbank Deputy Governor Barbro Wickman-Parak announced: “Our target variable is the CPI. We want to be clear ...