What changes in Sweden in April 2023?
April brings with it a new key interest rate announcement and a spring amendment budget, as well as tax rebates for some and potentially some Nato news. Here's what's changing in Sweden this month.
April 26th: Central Bank makes key interest rate announcement
The Riksbank's next long-awaited (or perhaps long-feared, for many homeowners?) key interest rate announcement will occur on April 26th at 9.30am.
It's not yet clear what the bank will announce, but most banks seem to be in agreement, predicting that the Riksbank will further raise key interest rates at the April meeting.
SBAB bank predicted on March 24th a hike of 0.5 percentage points, to a total of 3.5 percent, while Handelsbanken predicted a hike of 0.75 percentage points in its report released two days earlier.
A lot has changed on the financial markets since then which could affect the decision made at the end of April, such as the buyout of struggling Swiss bank Credit Suisse by rival bank UBS and announcements by supermarket chain Lidl to lower and freeze prices in its Swedish supermarkets, which spurred market leaders Ica as well as fellow supermarket chain Coop to announce plans to do the same on March 27th.
Inflation figures for March will also be released between now and the the time the Riksbank is due to make its decision, with high figures making a key interest rate hike more likely.
April 17th: Spring amendment budget announced
The spring amendment budget (vårändringsbudgeten) is usually mainly used to tweak or add bits and pieces to Sweden’s main annual budget, which was presented in autumn 2022. This year's spring amendment budget will be submitted to parliament on April 17th, and the government has already released some information about what will be included.
These include an extra 50 million kronor to the Swedish Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) to combat increased unemployment, a proposal to raise the amount of housing benefit on offer to families with low incomes from 1,325 kronor to 2,100 kronor, as well as extend the current date of expiry from June 2023 to December 31st 2023, and an extra 10 million kronor to the Swedish Competition Authority (Konkurrensverket) to increase its analysis of the state of competition and price developments in certain sectors.
April 5th-6th: Tax rebate
Those who approve their tax declarations for 2022 digitally by March 30th with no alterations should get any tax rebate due to them paid out on April 5th or 6th.
If you opt to receive a paper declaration, the Tax Agency advises that you put this in the post by April 26th, at the latest, to make sure it arrives by the May 2nd deadline.
April 7th: Turkish parliament closes for election
Turkey's parliament will remain open until April 7th, before closing for the country's upcoming elections in May. This means that, if Sweden and Finland's Nato applications are to happen before the election, they need to take place before this date.
It looks likely that Turkey will approve Finland's application before parliament closes, with Sweden's likely to wait until after May 14th, at the earliest.
Hungary's parliament is scheduled to vote on Finland's application on March 27th, with no date yet set for a vote to be held on Sweden.
April 1st: Swedish football season starts
Fans of Swedish football will be happy to know that the top-tier Allsvenskan league season starts on April 1st. The season will run until the beginning of November, with all 16 clubs playing each other twice for a total of 240 matches.
The current champions are BK Häcken from Gothenburg, and the team with the most championships since the leagues inception 99 years ago is Malmö FF, with 25 titles.
The winning team will qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
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April 26th: Central Bank makes key interest rate announcement
The Riksbank's next long-awaited (or perhaps long-feared, for many homeowners?) key interest rate announcement will occur on April 26th at 9.30am.
It's not yet clear what the bank will announce, but most banks seem to be in agreement, predicting that the Riksbank will further raise key interest rates at the April meeting.
SBAB bank predicted on March 24th a hike of 0.5 percentage points, to a total of 3.5 percent, while Handelsbanken predicted a hike of 0.75 percentage points in its report released two days earlier.
A lot has changed on the financial markets since then which could affect the decision made at the end of April, such as the buyout of struggling Swiss bank Credit Suisse by rival bank UBS and announcements by supermarket chain Lidl to lower and freeze prices in its Swedish supermarkets, which spurred market leaders Ica as well as fellow supermarket chain Coop to announce plans to do the same on March 27th.
Inflation figures for March will also be released between now and the the time the Riksbank is due to make its decision, with high figures making a key interest rate hike more likely.
April 17th: Spring amendment budget announced
The spring amendment budget (vårändringsbudgeten) is usually mainly used to tweak or add bits and pieces to Sweden’s main annual budget, which was presented in autumn 2022. This year's spring amendment budget will be submitted to parliament on April 17th, and the government has already released some information about what will be included.
These include an extra 50 million kronor to the Swedish Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) to combat increased unemployment, a proposal to raise the amount of housing benefit on offer to families with low incomes from 1,325 kronor to 2,100 kronor, as well as extend the current date of expiry from June 2023 to December 31st 2023, and an extra 10 million kronor to the Swedish Competition Authority (Konkurrensverket) to increase its analysis of the state of competition and price developments in certain sectors.
April 5th-6th: Tax rebate
Those who approve their tax declarations for 2022 digitally by March 30th with no alterations should get any tax rebate due to them paid out on April 5th or 6th.
If you opt to receive a paper declaration, the Tax Agency advises that you put this in the post by April 26th, at the latest, to make sure it arrives by the May 2nd deadline.
April 7th: Turkish parliament closes for election
Turkey's parliament will remain open until April 7th, before closing for the country's upcoming elections in May. This means that, if Sweden and Finland's Nato applications are to happen before the election, they need to take place before this date.
It looks likely that Turkey will approve Finland's application before parliament closes, with Sweden's likely to wait until after May 14th, at the earliest.
Hungary's parliament is scheduled to vote on Finland's application on March 27th, with no date yet set for a vote to be held on Sweden.
April 1st: Swedish football season starts
Fans of Swedish football will be happy to know that the top-tier Allsvenskan league season starts on April 1st. The season will run until the beginning of November, with all 16 clubs playing each other twice for a total of 240 matches.
The current champions are BK Häcken from Gothenburg, and the team with the most championships since the leagues inception 99 years ago is Malmö FF, with 25 titles.
The winning team will qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
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