Sweden unveils $2.8B 3-year economic stimulus plan

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The Swedish government on Friday presented a three-year 22.9 billion kronor ($2.8 billion) economic package to stimulate employment and infrastructure development amid the global financial crisis.

A news release said the package includes steps to encourage "employment and restructuring" of workplaces. That includes job training, increased support to vocational schools, increased spending on infrastructure, and benefits for those facing long- or short-term unemployment.

"Sweden has felt the global crisis," said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt at a news conference. "Sweden is a country that depends on exports, and that is difficult when so much depends on the situation in our export markets."

As part of the jobs program, the government hopes to help 58,700 people in 2009, 72,000 people in 2010 and 34,200 people in 2011 with jobs, training or other activities.

The efforts will cost 8.3 billion kronor ($993.9 million) in 2009, 8.8 billion kronor ($1.05 billion) in 2010 and 5.8 billion kronor ($694.7 million) in 2011, it said.

A proposal will be handed to Parliament for approval in January.

The four-party coalition government did not present any measures on how it plans to help the country's struggling automotive industry, but Industry Minister Maud Olofsson said talks were still being held with leaders in the sector and that the government would return to the issue when the situation was more clear.

The announcement came a day after the Swedish central bank cut its key interest rate, the repo rate, by a record 1.75 percentage points to 2 percent.

That was the largest cut since the Riksbank started using the repo rate as its key interest rate in June 1994. Previous cuts have never exceeded half a percentage point at a time.

___

On the Net:

http://www.regeringen.se/

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.