Sveriges Riksbank’s Executive Board appeared at an open hearing of the Riksdag Committee on Finance covering the central bank’s operations in 2025 and its current monetary policy stance. The Board highlighted operational measures to strengthen payment system preparedness and pointed to the end-January assessment that a policy rate of 1.75 per cent should support economic activity and stabilise inflation around the target over the longer term. On operations, the Riksbank reported that it met the legal requirement to operate five banknote depots and reached a milestone on offline card payments in July through an agreement with card payment and retail trade actors. It also introduced a deposit requirement under which Swedish credit institutions must place a certain amount at the Riksbank without interest, which it said helped ensure earnings covered administration costs in 2025; work on IT and digitalisation included modernising data and model management with support from AI. On the outlook, the hearing noted inflation close to target, easing interest rates and early signs of an improving labour market, while also flagging that underlying inflation could be slightly lower than previously forecast and that heightened geopolitical tensions, including developments in the Middle East, are being monitored ahead of the next monetary policy meeting.

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