Executive Summary – Page 1
Main Reports – Page 2
Appendices – Page 6
References – Page 9
Executive Summary page
The Current State of the Economy
( Overall: The Swedish economy experienced severe recession from 2008 due to global finance crisis. However, thanks to the active fiscal supports from the Swedish government and sound credits from consumers, Sweden is recovering relatively quickly from the recession.
( Export and import: Due to the recession, both imports and exports experienced sharp decline of negative 28 % respectively in 2009. However, Sweden gradually has recovered its exports up to 88% of 2008’s, as its main overseas markets’-OECD countries- economic climates got improved. Imports also have reached up to 89% of 2008’s.
( Active financial policies: During the recession, Swedish government aggressively defended its economy by dropping interest rates to stimulate the economy, which prevented Swedish economy from falling into long term recession.
The Challenges and the Prospects for Next Five Years
( The challenges: the nation’s unemployment rate hit over 9%. With all the Swedish authorities’ efforts, the unemployment rate may show little improvement. Short supply of houses is another issue. House price increased 10.74% during the first quarter of 2010, and this could make bubbles in real estate market later on.
( The prospects: Sweden is expected to overcome the global recession faster than others. The nation’s increasing exports on intermediate goods and automotive products would accelerate its economic recovery, as other parts of the world recover from the recession and start to make investments.
Recommendations for the Challenges
( Swedish government should consider lowering currency rate to stimulate exports and create more job opportunities.
( Increase productivity of manufacturing industry sectors. The productivity per labour unit of this sector is less efficient than other sectors.
Main Report
References: 1. GMID, Euromonitor International 2. HIS Global Insight 3. CIA, The World Factbook 4. IMF Country Info 5. KOTRA (Korea Trade-investment Promotion Agency), Countries Information 6. Global Window by KOTRA