Sweden Growth Slows

Sweden’s booming economy slowed to 0.4% in the first quarter of the year, to the surprise of economists, thelocal reported. Driven by strong consumption and investment, growth was 2.2% year on year, national number-crunching agency Statistics Sweden said in a statement. The quarter on quarter growth figure surprised economists, who were expecting a much stronger 1%. “Not our best forecasting day,” said Andreas Wallstrom, chief analyst at Nordea markets, on his Twitter account, adding it was due to “lower net exports and public consumption than expected”. Sweden’s household consumption rose by 0.5% and property prices jumped by 7.7%. Consumption of transport, furniture, hotel and restaurant services have been on the rise, said Statistics Sweden. Sweden is a major exporter of transport equipment, machinery and iron. Overall export figures were down by 0.2% but goods exports were up by 1.7%. Service exports fell by 4.3%, according to Statistics Sweden, which cited the decline in the activity of rental companies. The central bank expects 2.8% growth this year.