Furthermore, companies are financing themselves much more often in the market today, by issuing certificates and bonds. Thirty years ago, most of them borrowed from banks. Changes in financial markets can affect the transmission of monetary policy, which we need to take into account in our monetary policy assessments. Diagram 9. Borrowing among non-financial corporates Percentage of GDP, quarterly data 100 80 60  40 20 0 1990  1995  2000  2005  2010  2015  2020  Loans from monetary financial institutions Securities borrowing  Note. Includes securities borrowing in both Swedish kronor and foreign currency. Sources: Statistics Sweden and the Riksbank. In short, the development of the Swedish economy over the past 30 years may be summarised as good on the real economic side, but with some worrying signs on the financial side. 12 [16]  Forward planning difficult but important I would like to broaden the perspective a little. Thirty years ago, Swedish economists and politicians alike agreed that a steadfast defence of the fixed exchange rate was the only way to break with the weak development of the Swedish economy and lead it onto a new path. Many in Sweden were stuck in a particular way of thinking, a paradigm, where we did not realise that economic reality had changed so much that our frameworks also needed to be fundamentally changed. With free capital movement, a deregulated credit market and a poorly functioning economy, the fixed exchange rate was not a good instrument for creating economic stability and prosperity.
The inflation target and the Industrial Agreement together contributed to this development. This underlines the importance of the inflation target as a nominal anchor for the Swedish economy. 6 [16]  Diagram 3. Swedish real wages from 1970 Index, 1970 =100  Note. The broken line marks 1995, the year when the inflation target entered into force. Sources: The National Mediation Office and Statistics Sweden  Thirdly, the fiscal policy framework has contributed to the successful consolidation of Swedish public finances and these are now in a very good state. This has increased market confidence in Sweden's ability to keep its public finances in order. The difference between Swedish long-term market rates and those in other countries can be seen as a measure of this and of confidence in the Swedish economy as a whole. At the beginning of the 1990s, the long market rate in Sweden was quite a lot higher than the European and American rates. Confidence in the Swedish economy was low and most people believed that the rate of inflation would remain high. During the thirty years that have passed, the interest rate differential has shrunk and for quite some time the long-term interest rate in Sweden is at roughly the same level as in Germany. 7 [16]  Diagram 4. Government debt and interest differential Central government debt as a percentage of GDP and interest differential on 10-year government bond yields  Note. Share of GDP and percentage points difference.