Sweden's Riksbank Panics: Sends Interest Rates Deeper Into Negative Zone!

As turmoil slams global stock markets (see Europe's major bourses above--as of this writing) anew, the Swedish central bank the Riksbank seems to have panicked. The Riksbank slashed its interest rates further into NEGATIVE territory.

From the Telegraph

Swedish interest rates have been pushed deeper into negative territory, as the country’s central bank became the latest to introduce monetary stimulus in a world of falling oil prices.

The Riksbank elected to cut its policy rate from minus 0.35pc to minus 0.5pc on Thursday, lower than the 0.45pc anticipated by analysts. Policymakers said that the decision reflected a “stronger economy, but longer period of low inflation”. 

“The Riksbank’s very expansionary monetary policy has helped to strengthen the economy and reduce unemployment,” the central bank said, adding that more stimulus had nonetheless become necessary, as “the upturn in inflation is still not on a firm footing”.

Officials cited disappointingly weak inflation data, and slashed their own inflation forecasts. The Riksbank now expects Swedish inflation to rise to just 0.7pc by the end of the year, as opposed to the 1.3pc it had predicted last December. It also cut its estimates for inflation for 2017 and 2018.

So far, the announcement only spiked the USD-Swedish Krona for a short time as the USDSEK has practically returned to earth....

Deepening of the NIRP has done little, so far, to help the Swedish stock market as seen via the intraday Stockholm 30 index. 

What was supposed to be magic from the Central Bankers seem as being discounted or ignored.