On April 1st next year, food VAT will be reduced from 12 to 6 percent, a temporary measure until the end of December 2027.
Swedbank's head of forecasting, Andreas Wallström, believes it will have an effect.
We expect it to have almost full impact. Our picture is that food prices will fall slightly next year, around 5 percent.
But the price decline comes after a period of sharp price increases for food.
Prices will go down a little, but I believe that many households will still experience high prices, he says.
In addition to food VAT, Andreas Wallström sees three other positive factors for the price picture:
1. A krona that continues to strengthen against the dollar and the euro, which contributes positively as many goods are imported to Sweden.
2. Stable energy prices.
3. Commodity prices that have declined or remained stagnant in recent months.
This is evident, among other things, in the latest monthly figures from the UN food agency FAO, whose price index fell in November for the third month in a row.
Among the goods that are falling in price are vegetable oil and sugar.
Overall, they have fallen, although there are individual raw materials that have increased in price, such as cocoa and coffee, says Wallström.
