OECD praises Swedish economy

Posted by on Wednesday, February 8, 2017 · Leave a Comment 

Minister for Finance Magdalena Andersson
Photo: Kristian Pohl/Government Offices of Sweden

 
The Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Angel Gurria has today presented the organisation’s report on Sweden’s economic situation with a special focus is on equality and gender equality.
 
The OECD also expresses clear support for the government’s fiscal policy. This report is part of the OECD’s regular review of the economies of its member countries.

The organization has studied a number of areas. It concludes that the economy is growing strongly due to an expanding labour force, rising investments and a recent pick-up in Swedish productivity.
 
The OECD underlines that Sweden is right in accommodating temporary immigration-related costs without compensating by implementing temporary tax increases or welfare cutbacks. The government should “continue to pursue a prudent fiscal policy, while accommodating temporary immigration-related spending to facilitate integration.”

“We now have another international institution confirming that the Government’s fiscal policy is well balanced. Most recently it was the IMF and now it’s the OECD. This is very positive,” says Minister for Finance Magdalena Andersson.

The OECD reports that unemployment is falling although it is still relatively high for some vulnerable groups in the labour market.

It states that the rise in income inequality we are seeing in Sweden needs to be contained, and proposes reforms in housing, wage subsidies and integration, along with a more systematic approach to uprating social benefits. It also considers that gender equality can be further enhanced, including through more evenly shared parental insurance.

Meanwhile, the OECD notes that Sweden scores higher than the OECD average on all sub-components of the OECD’s Better Life Index and stands out most clearly when it comes to environmental quality, health, civic engagement and governance, and work and life balance.

The OECD also wants to see more measures to address housing-market risks.

 

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