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Swedish GDP growth beats forecast in Q2

Xinhua, July 31, 2015 Adjust font size:

Exports boosted the Swedish economy in the second quarter as figures released on Thursday beat the forecast.

The economy grew by 1 percent in the second quarter compared to the first, the biggest increase since 2013. Exports accounted for 0.4 percentage points and household consumption for another 0.3 points.

Sweden's GDP grew by 3 percent during the quarter compared to the same period last year, Statistics Sweden said in a press release, beating the 2.5-percent growth rate expected by the country's central bank.

"What's especially pleasing in this report is that exports are picking up. It's what we're waiting for, to have exports to pull the Swedish economy along," Robert Bergquist, chief economist at the bank SEB, told news agency TT.

"This is good news for the government, which will surely be pleased even though unemployment remains at the same level. It does not matter, though, for the central bank and its monetary policy," Bergquist said.

Sweden's Riksbank is struggling to reach its inflation target of 2 percent, having dropped its key interest rate below zero earlier this year and continued to cut it since.

In June, Sweden's consumer price index dropped by 0.4 percent compared to June in 2014, according to Statistics Sweden. Endit