But then one must also take into account the fact that we have already counted on a significant slowdown in GDP growth, from around 4.4 per cent in 2011 to around 2.2 per cent in 2012, which is a much lower growth rate than the 3.8 per cent the government was anticipating for 2012 in its Spring Budget Bill. Economic developments in Sweden can also be affected by developments in the Swedish krona. History shows that the Swedish krona usually weakens in times of turbulence, which was clearly demonstrated during the financial crisis. One effect of the severe krona weakening in 2008–2009 was that the price of imported goods rose. In this way, inflation in Sweden was stabilised; otherwise there was a risk that it would have been too low. Even during the most acute phase of the crisis, CPIF inflation remained close to the target of 2 per cent. The krona has also weakened during the financial turbulence this summer, but so far the depreciation has been modest (see Figure 14). We will also take into account the consequences of this in our inflation forecasts. At the same time, the recent financial market turbulence, with falling share prices and interest rates, may suddenly be reversed. My experience is that one should be cautious in interpreting fresh events when one is shaping economic policy. Our repo rate decisions are aimed at the future.
The outlook for price stability is also favourable, although inflation is expected to rise somewhat in the near future. This is mainly a result of the recent strong increase in energy prices. The fact that regional discrepancies in price increases amounted to up to 2 percentage points does not, by any means, conflict with this assessment. This phenomenon, which is almost typical for large-sized monetary areas and is also to be found in the United States, can reasonably be explained. *** So far, I have limited myself to considering the internal aspects of EMU, but the introduction of the euro also has implications that extend far beyond the boundaries of the European Union. As the currency of an economic area with a population of nearly 300 million people and one sixth of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), the euro is already the second most widely used currency in the world after the US dollar. Moreover, as investor confidence grows and as more EU Member States join the euro area, in particular following EU enlargement, the euro’s role as an international currency is destined to gain in importance. This is not to say that the Eurosystem will actively promote an international role for the euro, or that there is a policy of trying to supplant the US dollar as the world’s leading currency.