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Bloomberg
Sweden’s inflation rate reached double digits for the first time in more than three decades in December, as price increases show little sign of abating despite the central bank’s efforts.
The CPIF measure of inflation that’s tracked by the Riksbank rose by 10.2% from a year earlier, according to Statistics Sweden. That’s more than the 9.8% expected by economists, while the Riksbank had forecast a rate of 9.1%.
The data is locking in bets that the central bank will raise its key interest rate by half a percentage point next month. A 50 basis-point hike now seems to be a “done deal,†said Knut Hallberg, a senior economist at Swedbank AB. The risk of an additional quarter-point hike in April has increased, he added. While inflation is cooling in the US as well as in the euro area, Sweden is still seeing price increases pick up pace.