[FT]Sweden launches financial stability package

스웨덴도 금융안정화 대책을 내놓았다. 규모는 2050억 달러다. 스웨덴은 자국통화를 사용하기 때문에 금융위기에서 벗어나 있었다. 하지만 스웨덴 은행보다 발틱삼국이 문제다. 리투아니아, 라트비아, 에스토니아는 위기를 겪고 있다. 스웨덴의 지원이 이들을 살릴 수 있을지 주목해야 한다.
Sweden launches financial stability package
By David Ibison

Published: October 20 2008 09:17 | Last updated: October 20 2008 09:17

Sweden on Monday became the latest European country to take action to stabilise its financial system with the creation of a $205bn programme to boost liquidity in the system and take direct stakes in its banks if needed.

Sweden is a member of the EU but not a Eurozone member, and while its banks are stable and have experienced no liquidity or capital problems so far, there are concerns they may not escape the effects of the global financial crisis unscathed.

In particular, there are worries that a sharp correction in the economies of the three Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania could undermine Sweden’s banks, which control two thirds of total lending in the former Soviet states.

The new financial assistance package involves a $205bn liquidity boost and a separate SEK15bn fund that can be used to takes stakes in any bank that needs a capital boost.

Anders Borg, finance minister, said Monday that the country would also examine its deposit guarantee programme, having already raised the guarantee on bank deposits to SEK500,000 earlier this month.

Mats Odell, minister for financial markets, said Monday that any financial institution that receives a capital injection must sign agreements that limit salaries and bonus payments to managers.

The Swedish government also agreed to guarantee deposits at foreign banks with clients in Sweden if their own governments cannot do so and widened the types of accounts covered.

Sweden has gone out of its way to quell fears the country’s largest banks could be dangerously exposed to an Iceland-like crisis in the Baltics.

The Financial Supervisory Agency said last week in a report that the banks had sufficient capital to weather a “serious recession” in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, even if there was a simultaneous recession in Sweden and the rest of the world.

Sweden’s banks dominate the Baltic banking market. Swedbank is the largest bank in Estonia and Latvia, while SEB is the market leader in Lithuania. Together they control two-thirds of total lending across the three former Soviet states.

Significant economic imbalances in the tiny countries, such as very large current account deficits, have prompted concerns that they could suffer a sharp economic downturn after years of high growth.

All three nations admit their economies had overheated and face a period of economic slowdown. Latvia and Estonia are already in recession, while Lithuanian growth has slowed markedly, but all three bristle at the suggestion that they face an Iceland-style crisis.

They point out that their banking systems are controlled by Swedish banks, meaning the chances of an Iceland-style collapse are slim. All three nations also support their currencies with currency boards or pegs to the euro, providing a degree of exchange rate stability.

But as fears of an alleged Baltic collapse have spread, mainly from unsourced commentary and speculation, the share prices of Swedbank and SEB have almost halved.

Investors will get a closer look at the state of Sweden’s banks’ Baltic operations when they release quarterly results this week.

Although non-performing loans have increased, they are still well under internationally accepted limits. Swedbank, for example, is forecasting losses of just 1.2 per cent of its Baltic loans next year.

The three Baltic states accounted for just 20 per cent of SEB’s operating profit between January and June 2008, with Sweden contributing 48 per cent and the remainder split between other Nordic states and Germany.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008