Sweden to invest in social infrastructure for security

Police stand guard outside the Stockholm District Court in Stockholm, Sweden, April 11, 2017. File Photo Xinhua

Strong growth and budget surplus will help fund investments in the country's law enforcement and climate initiatives, according to Sweden's spring finance bill and amended budget proposal publicized on Tuesday.

The bill is based on an agreement between the incumbent Social Democrat and Green parties and the Left Party.

Sweden's Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said that thanks to the government's prudent fiscal policy, the inherited deficit will instead be turned into a surplus for each remaining year in the incumbent's term.

"It has placed us in an entirely new position and gives us new opportunities to meet societal challenges. The Swedish model can continue to deliver," she said in a statement issued on the government's website Tuesday.

Swedish growth is expected to remain high in 2017, with a higher than forecasted 2.9 percent in calendar-adjusted terms. According to the statement, Sweden's broad-based growth is powered by increased exports, increased private investment -- mainly in residential construction -- and increased consumption, both private and public. Unemployment is down since 2014, and is expected to drop even further in the coming years.

A responsible fiscal policy and strong employment growth led to a public finance surplus in 2015 and 2016, and a reduction of public debt. From a deficit of more than 6.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, the savings went up by more than 11 billion U.S. dollars, yielding a surplus of about 4.4 billion U.S. dollars.

Based on the big challenges facing the Swedish Police Authority, the government has already proposed an additional 78 million U.S. dollars to hire more officers this year.

The government and other parties to the defense agreement also see a need to strengthen Sweden's total defense with an added 55 million U.S. dollars.

The amended budget bill proposes an infusion of 55 million U.S. dollars this year for climate adaptation and mitigation measures all over the country. These include investments in electric charging stations, biogas plants and other climate activities identified in Sweden's "Climate Leap", a climate adaptation and mitigation campaign.