The war in Iran has driven up the price of gasoline and diesel, and the government and the Sweden Democrats have previously presented reduced fuel taxes.
Now support for public transport is coming, which will enable the regions to halve the price of monthly passes from July 1 to December 31.
The price reduction will take place by the state compensating the regions that reduce the price by 50 percent during the second half of 2026, says L leader Simona Mohamsson at a press conference with the other Tidö leaders.
Motivated to borrow
This involves a total of 6.5 billion kronor in an extra supplementary budget for the country's regions.
Ulf Kristersson says it is justified for the state to borrow for the proposal and points out that it is temporary support.
We want to avoid the economy being dragged down further by what is happening in the Middle East.
Encouraging public transport also reduces pressure on fuel consumption in Sweden, he says at a press conference with the other Tidö leaders.
At the same time, the government points out that there is a risk that the effects of the war in the Middle East will be long-lasting. Even if the war were to end tomorrow, the government expects economic effects throughout 2026.
When asked who will dare to raise prices again at the turn of the year, Kristersson's answer is: "You have to follow the development."
Right now we are working on the assumption that this is, after all, a temporary crisis in the Middle East, he says.
"Pork-barrel"
The support for public transport is welcomed by the Green Party, which, however, wants to see a permanent reduction. Green Party spokesperson Daniel Helldén says the government's proposal is "pork-barrel spending":
"When inflation hit its hardest, Swedish public transport did not receive a single krona in support. Now, with just over a hundred days left until the election, the same government is trying to pretend that it cares about public transport passengers," he says in a comment.
The government's crisis package totals SEK 17.5 billion. It also includes support for agriculture and domestic aviation. All measures in the package are temporary.
