Bank expects Swedish slowdown
Handelsbanken tweaks down its growth forecast for next year, in fresh economic outlook.
“We expect the Swedish economy to fade notably this year, and that leaner years are ahead. It is not a deep crisis we see before us, but rather several years of weak growth,” says Handelsbanken’s chief economist Christina Nyman in a statement picked up by Swedish magazine Affärsvärlden.
Next year lowered half percent
While the GDP growth forecast for this year stays at 1,5 percent, the bank lowers its outlook for 2020 from 1,8 percent to 1,3 percent. The previous forecast was published a quarter ago, in January.
“Firstly, we have become more pessimistic about global growth, which hits Swedish export growth,” says Christina Nyman, who expects this in turn to affect investments.
Getting tougher
“In this harsher environment we assume home building to continue down somewhat in both 2020 and 2021 – as different from previously, when we expected a plateau to be reached next year,” Handelsbanken states in its outlook report.