The Riksbank to buy municipal bonds

As a next step in the Riksbank’s bond-purchasing programme, the Executive Board of the Riksbank has decided at an extraordinary monetary policy meeting to purchase bonds issued by Swedish municipalities and regions and by Kommuninvest i Sverige AB for a nominal amount of SEK 15 billion. This is taking place against the backdrop of the serious decline in the Swedish economy and continued major uncertainty about economic developments as a result of the corona pandemic.

To keep monetary policy expansionary, provide support to the economy and broadly support credit supply in the Swedish economy, the Executive Board decided on 16 March 2020 to purchase bonds in the period March–December 2020 for a total nominal amount of up to SEK 300 billion. Within the framework of this programme, purchases of government bonds were initiated on 18 March and purchases of covered bonds on 25 March. In addition, purchases of commercial paper issued in Swedish kronor by Swedish non-financial corporations were initiated on 2 April.

Purchases of municipal bonds will now be initiated and these will take place between 27 April and 30 June 2020 on the secondary market. These purchases only include fixed-coupon bonds. Any later purchases may also include flexible-coupon bonds.

Further information can be found on riksbank.se. General terms and conditions will be published no later than 24 April. Special terms and conditions along with forthcoming dates for municipal bond purchases are normally published two days before each auction on www.riksbank.se.

The minutes from the Executive Board’s extraordinary monetary policy meeting will be published on Monday 4 May.

Here you can find all of the measures taken by the Riksbank as a result of the coronavirus pandemic

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