The Impact of Accelerated Quantitative Tightening on the Krona: Uncertainties Remain

Unclear what quicker quantitative tightening means for the krona

EUR/SEK has been volatile in narrow ranges after the Riksbank’s announcement today. The positives for the krona are that today’s decision to hike was unanimous and that future rate hikes are promised. What is less certain is what today’s announcement of accelerated quantitative tightening (QT) means for the krona.

Recall that back in February the Riksbank announced that it would be shrinking its holding of assets from around SEK800bn to SEK200bn over the next three years. In April, It started reducing its holdings of nominal and inflation-linked government bonds by SEK3.5bn per month. Today it has announced that the pace of sales will increase to SEK5bn per month starting in September.

The Riksbank argues that its bond sales will raise yields on government bonds while having little impact on lending and deposit rates. It also argues that by supplying these government bonds back to the market, greater liquidity here will attract foreign investors and support the krona.

The hypothesis of QT supporting the krona seems to be untested. So far this year, 10-year Swedish Government Bond (SGB) yields have only traded in a +/- 15bp range against 10-year German Bunds – and serves as a reminder that the ECB is also shrinking its balance sheet at the same time.

In all, we suspect that EUR/SEK can stabilise around the current 11.70-11.80 levels. However, with the real estate market proving to be Sweden’s Achilles heel, we doubt that a sustained recovery in the undervalued krona will emerge until much later in the year when there are clearer signs of improvement in global inflation trends. Until that point, domestic risks in Sweden will continue to see the krona trade on a fragile footing.

 

Riksbank's initial planned sales of government bonds

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