Sweden’s caretaker government preparing “uncontroversial” budget
Sweden’s caretaker government would propose a “non-political” budget if no new government is formed by mid-November, says the Finance Minister.
Magdalena Andersson was elected as part of a Social Democrat-Green government in 2014, but she says the budget her ministry will be putting forward will not contain any political aims or reforms.
“It will not be a red-green budget” she said on Wednesday afternoon.
In Sweden’s modern history, it has never taken this long to form a government, and so it is a new situation that a transitional government has to propose a budget.
However, it is not certain that this budget will in fact be uncontroversial. The Moderate Party has raised the possibility of it putting forward its own budget, which could then be supported by other parties and potentially gain a majority in the Parliament. The Social Democrat finance minister would then be forced to enact a budget drawn up by her political opponents.
The date for the transitional government’s budget to be presented is 15 November.
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