In line with developments elsewhere in the world, the Swedish purchasing managers index for October also showed a positive development. The expected upturn in private consumption is confirmed by new information, in this case turnover in the retail trade sector. The picture of a gradual, cautious strengthening of the labour market is also supported by incoming data regarding, for instance, new job vacancies, redundancies and companies’ recruitment plans. Employment appears if anything slightly stronger than was expected," said Mr Heikensten. “Inflation in the Swedish economy has been low since the end of 2003. According to the most recent data, for October, annual inflation in terms of the CPI and UND1X stood at 0.5 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively. The low domestic inflation rate is largely due to a surprisingly rapid increase in productivity. At the same time, imported inflation has been kept down by strong global competitive pressure, spare resources in the global economy and a previously relatively strong krona. Our assessment in the Inflation Report was that inflation would increase in future, but at a fairly moderate rate. At the beginning of the forecast period the oil price in particular was expected to push up the rate of price increase. After that, rising capacity utilisation in Sweden and abroad, together with diminishing effects of a number of price-dampening factors, was expected to lead to inflation rising.
The comprehensive nature of the information facilitates the development and validation of credit scoring models by the banking institutions, leading to more robust credit decisions. Information provided through CCRIS allows financial institutions to look beyond collateral and cash flow statements, to understand the borrowers’ track record in making payments. This undoubtedly contributes to higher loan growth and better asset quality. Since the inception of CCRIS in 2001, loan outstanding grew at an annual average rate of 8.9%, while the overall impairment ratio showed a significant decline  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  from its peak of 16.2% in 2001 to 2.2% currently. The World Bank, in its Doing Business Report, has ranked Malaysia No. 1 for five consecutive years in the category of “Getting Credit”. Another example is the Credit Bureau Malaysia (CBM) which was established to assist SMEs build credible credit records from transactions outside the regulated banking system such as transactions with suppliers and utility companies. With this credible credit record, SMEs that utilise the formal banking system for the first time will be able to more effectively obtain access to finance. CBM also has a comprehensive credit scoring methodology which helps banking institutions assess the credit worthiness of potential customers. Further, CBM plays an important role in educating SMEs on how credit scores are calculated and how borrowers can improve their business operations and transaction conduct to improve their credit scores. At end-September 2012, CBM has 28,337 SME members and had produced 707,164 credit reports.