Government or no government, funding for Crown Princess Victoria's 50th birthday celebrations has been safeguarded, Svantesson reassured any concerned royalists.
"She only turns 50 once, and that's next year, so I think it's entirely reasonable," she said.
The finance minister outlined the guidelines for the transitional budget, which she has to put forward by November 12th, at a press conference on October 27th.
A guiding principle for a caretaker government's budget is that no new spending items are to be introduced, but Victoria's birthday celebrations have nevertheless been included.
In budget terms, however, the sum involved is modest – four million kronor.
"I think all parties, from left to right, consider that reasonable," Svantesson said.
A bunch of campaign pledges were thrown around by parties across the spectrum ahead of the election: higher child benefits, tax cuts, scrapping the sick-pay qualifying deduction, cheaper preschool and cheaper dental care.
But because no new government has taken office, none of these pledges feature in the 2027 budget bill that Svantesson is due to table.
"This is not an ordinary budget bill featuring new policies. It's about keeping Sweden running, and essentially about extending the funding allocations currently in place for this year," she said.
She has met with representatives of the other parliamentary parties on two occasions this autumn to agree on the baseline rules governing the transition budget.
Svantesson declined to provide details about the specific contents at this stage. Broadly speaking, however, spending levels from this year's budget will roll over into next year, apart from customary index-linking for prices and wages.
A few allocations will see increases regardless. The Swedish Armed Forces, for instance, will receive a boost to manage ongoing rearmament efforts – a move backed across the board by all parties.
Once Svantesson presents the budget to parliament, the other parties will have until November 27th to table amendments, either individually or jointly.
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No party has yet indicated whether they will attempt to challenge the transitional government's budget.
Svantesson noted that it cannot be ruled out that the right-wing Tidö parties – to which she belongs – might submit a joint budget bill in parliament, on top of the caretaker budget.
Such a move could potentially defeat the caretaker budget, provided the centre-left parties fail to coordinate their response.
"We aren't there yet," she said. "As finance minister in a caretaker government, my role is to put forward a transition budget."
Whichever parties eventually manage to form a new government will also have the opportunity to implement their economic policies through the spring amendment budget.
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