Coronavirus threat: Sweden expects GDP to fall by 10%

The coronavirus pandemic hit Sweden's economy hard. According to a new report from the Swedish State Institute for Economic Research, the country's GDP will decrease by 10% in the second quarter of this year. This was reported on June 17 by the Swedish newspaper G teborgs-Posten. Sweden's GDP is expected to fall by about 10% in the second quarter of this year, but this decline will weaken some of the anti-crisis economic policy measures that the government has taken. The unemployment rate this year will be 6.8%, and during the last three quarters of 2020, on average, about 450,000 people will lose their jobs. According to analysts, in 2021 unemployment in Sweden will rise to 8.5%, and then reach a peak in 2022 of 9.6%. The State Institute for Economic Research suggests that Riksbank may leave the interest rate at zero until 2024. The decline in GDP will be historic, and the pandemic will constrain Sweden's economy for at least another year. Employment is supported by extensive short-term vacation practices, said report writer Ilva Heden Westerdal.