The Committee on Finance’s examination of the Riksbank

The Riksbank’s strongly independent status is laid down in the Constitution of Sweden. This places great demands on the democratic scrutiny of the Riksbank, and the Committee on Finance has an important role to play here.

Focus on effectiveness and fulfilment of objectives

According to the Riksdag Act, the Committee on Finance has an obligation to follow up and evaluate the activities of the Riksbank. The focus should be on how effective these activities are and how well the Riksbank fulfils its statutory objectives. This applies, in particular, to monetary policy, as price stability is the overall objective of the Riksbank, that is, to maintain permanently low and stable inflation.

The Committee on Finance is also obliged to follow up and evaluate the Riksbank’s other activities, such as work with financial stability, the payments system, cash management and preparedness.

Evaluation of monetary policy

Annual evaluation with the help of researchers

The Committee on Finance has conducted annual monetary policy evaluations since 1999. It was then that the Riksbank acquired a more independent status in relation to the Riksdag and the Government. The focus of these annual evaluations has been monetary policy during the previous calendar year.

What is new since 2023 is that the Committee on Finance, to assist its annual evaluation, also commissions an independent expert evaluation by researchers in the field. The experts’ evaluation, together with an account from the Riksbank, serves as the basis of the Committee on Finance’s annual follow-up and evaluation of Sweden’s monetary policy. 

Evaluations with a more long-term perspective

In addition to the annual evaluation, the Committee on Finance conducts a more extensive evaluation of monetary policy in a somewhat more long-term perspective every few years. In these evaluations, the Committee on Finance has commissioned international researchers and former central bank governors who have written the underlying reports for the Committee.

For example, Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England, and Karnit Flug, former Governor of the Bank of Israel, have evaluated Swedish monetary policy during different periods on behalf of the Committee. 

The evaluations have often contributed to public debate on the basic premises and formulation of Swedish monetary policy.

In October 2024, Carolyn Wilkins and Morten Ravn were commissioned to evaluate Swedish monetary policy during the period 2015‒2024

The Committee on Finance has commissioned two international experts to evaluate the Riksbank’s monetary policy during the period 2015–2024

The Committee on Finance holds hearings with the Riksbank’s Executive Board

An important aspect of the democratic scrutiny of the Riksbank is the public hearings with the Riksbank’s Executive Board and others that are held by the Committee on Finance. The following annual hearings on the activities of the Riksbank are held by the Committee on Finance: 

• Twice a year, usually in October and March, the Committee holds hearings with the Executive Board on current monetary policy.
• In May or June, the Committee holds a hearing with the Executive Board and external researchers/evaluators in connection with the Committee's annual evaluation of monetary policy, with a focus on the previous calendar year.
• In January or February every year, the Committee holds a hearing on financial stability on a topical theme with the Governor of the Riksbank and other members of the Financial Stability Council, that is, the Minister for Financial Markets, the Director-General of the National Debt Office and the Director-General of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority.
• In March, the Committee holds a hearing on the activities of the Riksbank in a broader perspective in connection with the presentation by the Riksbank of its annual report to the Riksdag.