Finance

Finance

Sweden â€“ most reliable borrower of Europe

03 December 2011 08:46 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Vahab Rzayev â€“ APA-Economics. Sweden is enjoying its lowest borrowing cost ever relative to Germany as investors reward the biggest Scandinavian economy for cutting its debt to less than half Europeâ€™s average and enforcing discipline at its banks, APA reports citing Bloomberg.

Almost two decades after resolving its last banking crisis, Sweden boasts the worldâ€™s best-performing bond market. The country, which opted to stay outside the euro, has paid down its debts and imposed stricter controls on its lenders. Swedenâ€™s government made a profit on its 2008 financial rescue, will post a budget surplus this year and pays less than any other European Union member to borrow for 10 years.

Swedenâ€™s government debt will narrow to 36.3 percent of GDP this year from 40.2 percent before the global financial crisis started in 2007, according to the European Commissionâ€™s latest estimates published Nov. 10. Danish government debt will reach 44.1 percent, compared with a euro-area average of 88 percent, according to the commission. Norway has a $530 billion wealth fund built from its oil income, compared with outstanding debt of 609 billion kroner ($105 billion).