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Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson is satisfied with her budget and believes that the Social Democrats have had a strong impact on the negotiations.
“This is actually salsa politics at its finest,” he says.
But criticism from the opposition is harsh.
Center leader Annie Lööf has described the budget as “classical liberal and bourgeois politics” and notes that the tax on employment and entrepreneurship will be reduced by approximately SEK 30 billion.
But Magdalena Andersson (S) gives a completely different image and instead highlights investments in the municipal sector, approximately in the same order of magnitude.
These include an increase in government subsidies, more money for public transportation, greater resources for health and care, and a continued increase in unemployment benefits over the next two years.
In total, the budget includes reforms for 105 billion SEK next year, much of which are temporary and financed through loans.
Magdalena Andersson also takes note of how the tax cuts are designed and states that most go to low-income people.
“There is a very clear redistributive effect in this budget. So it is clear that a social democratic heart is delighted when it sees such a distribution profile, ”he says.
According to calculations by the Ministry of Finance, the budget reforms will lead to growth 2.3 percentage points higher than it would have otherwise been. This, along with unemployment, is estimated to be 1.3 percentage points lower.
“This corresponds to approximately 75,000 more jobs next year,” says Magdalena Andersson.
From the opposition comes at the same time, harsh criticism of the budget, especially from the moderates.
“I see a budget in which the Swedish people are historically in debt without really solving the big problems Sweden has with crime and high unemployment,” says Elisabeth Svantesson, the party’s economic policy spokesperson.
Elisabeth Svantesson points out that Sweden had a high unemployment rate even before the crown crisis and the measures that the January parties are taking are insufficient, she believes.
“Several of the parties talk about jobs, jobs, jobs and the line of work. But the fact is that several of the proposals that are being made now will not lead to more jobs in the long term, “he says.
He also believes that the government is doing little to roll back the serious crime.
“For me, it is completely incomprehensible that you can put a budget with 105 billion in investments, but still not press for new funds and investments in the police or the Public Ministry,” says Elisabeth Svantesson.
Swedish democrats too critical of the budget and, among other things, had wanted to see greater investments in the prison service.
Oscar Sjöstedt, the party’s economic policy spokesman, is also critical of how the tax cuts are designed.
This applies mainly to the temporary cut in taxes on earned income, totaling SEK 10 billion over the next two years, which does not include retirees.
“It would have been reasonable to let pensioners also be covered, so that we can eliminate this tax gap. The pension is the deferred salary and then it should be the same taxation ”, he says.
Oscar Sjöstedt also lacks a clear direction on the budget.
“It’s a bit like the Kalle Anka camping holiday on Christmas Eve, when they wonder who’s driving. It’s spreading in all directions,” he says.
