Swedes’ cumulative unpaid debts reached a new record of 62.2 billion kronor ($7.9 billion) in June, with Swedes at the higher end of the earnings scale finding it increasingly hard to pay their bills.
Swedish government borrowing is expected to increase over the next two years as the National Debt Office (Riksgälden) raises its budget deficit forecast for 2009 and 2010.
The Swedish government on Thursday asked the National Debt Office (Riksgälden) to sell as much as 200 billion kronor ($25 billion) in T-bills next year, as the head of the central bank emphasized the severity of the current financial crisis.
Sweden announced on Tuesday it was cutting its 2008 budget surplus forecast, saying the financial crisis would result in a deficit next year rather than the surplus forecast earlier.
Sweden’s official debt collection agency is suffering from severe economic problems after having over-spent and over-borrowed and may soon be forced to cut staff to stop the bleeding.
Sweden's National Debt Office (Riksgälden) announced on Tuesday it has sold 22.7 billion kronor ($3.48 billion) worth of treasury bills out of 25 billion on offer in a second extra auction to soothe tense local markets.
While Swedes struggle to cut spending and put more money in the bank, a new survey shows that households are poorer and more indebted than at any time in recent memory.
The number of apartments repossessed and sold at auction by Sweden's official bailiffs has doubled in the past year. But the Swedish Enforcement Agency (Kronofogden) says the increase in foreclosures is due more to changes in the law than to a downturn in the economy.
The Swedish central government had a surplus in payments -- or negative borrowing requirement -- of 13.5 billion kronor ($2.28 billion) in May, the Swedish National Debt Office (Riksgälden) said.
Fire off a simple text message, wait 15 minutes and presto, 3000 kronor ($500) land in your account; the simplicity of obtaining SMS loans in Sweden is increasingly luring youths into debt.
As fears rise about an increasing number of Swedish children becoming snarled in debt, the Data Inspection Board (Datainspektionen) announced plans for a project to shed more light on the problem.
