Liberals have just 1.8 percent of support in new poll
A new opinion poll by SVT/Verian has shown that support for the Liberals has fallen to just 1.8 percent, well below the 4 percent parliamentary threshold and the party's lowest figure since November 2022.
"For each month where the Liberals have voter support well under the 4 percent threshold, the chances of receiving tactical votes falls," head of opinion at Verian, Per Söderpalm, told SVT news.
According to the most recent poll the so-called Tidö parties ‒ the government and the Sweden Democrats ‒ have 44.8 percent of the vote, while the opposition has 53.1 percent.
Swedish vocabulary: stödröster ‒ support votes or tactical votes from supporters of other parties
Swedish business owners optimistic about 2026
Business owners are optimistic about the next three months, a survey by SEB bank has revealed, with 29 percent of those surveyed predicting positive developments in that period and 14 percent saying they thought things would be negative.
"There is a lot of hope that 2026 will be the big recovery year," SEB personal finance expert Américo Fernández said in a press statement.
Liquidity among those surveyed has also improved since the last survey and is now at its highest level since summer 2023.
Swedish vocabulary: företag ‒ business
Swedish intelligence chief says 'risk' of security situation deteriorating
The head of Sweden's intelligence service told AFP on Tuesday that there was a "risk" that an already serious security situation would continue to deteriorate, pointing primarily to a threat from Russia.
Charlotte von Essen said Russia had conducted "security-threatening activities against Sweden and in Sweden" for a number of years.
"This involves everything from intelligence gathering, influence operations, and illegal technology acquisition. But it also involves sabotage activities," she added.
There had also been sabotage in the Baltic states and in Germany, said von Essen, head of the Swedish Security Service (Säpo).
Apart from Russia, von Essen said that both China and Iran posed threats to Swedish security. (AFP)
Swedish vocabulary: hot ‒ threat
More Swedish mortgage-holders opting for fixed-term rates
The vast majority of people with Swedish mortgages choose variable rates, but SBAB bank says there has been a small rise in the number of people opting for fixed-term rates.
In December, 95 percent of the bank's new customers chose variable rates ‒ that's fewer than in October, where 98 percent of customers made the same choice.
"The number of people who have chosen to fix at least part of their mortgage has more than doubled between October and December, but from a very low level," SBAB's personal finance and property finance expert Linda Hasselvik wrote in a press statement.
According to the bank, those opting for fixed rates did so because the difference between the two was relatively small, and because fixed-term rates look set to rise.
SBAB's latest interest rate forecast suggested a difference of just 0.2 percentage points between opting for a three-year fixed term mortgage rate and a variable rate. Over four or five years the difference was only slightly higher at 0.3 percentage points.
"The forecast indicates that there will be further increases soon which means that the window for switching to a fixed-term rate cheaply is about to close," Hasselvik said.
Swedish vocabulary: tidsfönstret är på väg att stängas ‒ the window of time is about to close
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