Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson (M) directs sharp criticism at the major banks for not lowering variable mortgage rates despite falling market rates after earlier hikes. Only SEB has made a minor reduction so far.
Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson (M) expressed strong criticism of the major banks in a written comment. She said many feel holy wrath over how banks raise rates quickly but drag their feet on cuts.
Earlier this spring the banks raised variable mortgage rates by 0.15 percentage points citing the Middle East war and higher funding costs. Market rates have now fallen, but only SEB cut its rate by 0.05 percentage points at the end of April.
Svantesson urged dissatisfied customers to negotiate or switch banks. She also opposed the Social Democrats’ proposal for a temporary bank tax and called it a mortgage tax.
Economist Claes Hemberg criticized the banks for greed and said they should lower rates in line with market developments.
