The regions' billion-kronor deficit is growing, according to the first forecasts for 2024.
They became significantly worse than we had calculated, says Annika Wallenskog, chief economist at SKR, to Ekot.
Wallenskog says that all regions are expecting a deficit for the year, and a total deficit of 20 billion kronor is expected. This is larger than the forecast from SKR's economic report, which was released in the spring. At that time, the organisation estimated that the regions would be in the red by 16 billion.
Last year, the regions' deficit was already larger than budgeted – a total of 12 billion. The underlying causes are inflation and high interest rates, which have driven up costs for, among other things, pensions.
Cutbacks are also putting between 5,000 and 6,000 employees at risk of losing their jobs, while work is underway to reduce the proportion of temporary staff.
It's really tough, says Wallenskog to Ekot.
Despite all regions expecting a deficit, some are faring better.
We can see that there are some regions that have done slightly better this year and last, such as Halland and Kronoberg, for example. But since everyone has a deficit, it's tough for all of them.
