The Swedish government will run a bigger budget deficit this year than seen previously, the Debt Office said on Thursday in a new forecast.

"Central government finances have been strong after the pandemic, but we now foresee some weakening, with dampened tax income and increased government spending," Director General Karolina Ekholm said in a statement.

"A contributing factor to the greater borrowing need than in our previous forecast is that we now expect a capital contribution to the Riksbank," she said.

 

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Essi Lehto and Stine Jacobsen)