Svantesson does not think, however, that it would be a good idea if she, as minister and representative of the owner, the state, forced state-owned SBAB to be the bank with the lowest interest rates.
SBAB's three-month interest rate is not the highest and not the lowest in comparison with other operators or mortgage giants. They have, however, according to Svantesson, a lower return requirement than the major banks.
Setting interest rates
– In that way, SBAB has lower demands on itself, but I do not think that we fundamentally want either finance ministers or opposition leaders to set the price of SJ's tickets or SBAB's interest rates, she says.
Svantesson has, since she became minister in 2022, several times criticized bank profits and interest rate setting. So also now.
It is obvious that we should have strong banks with profits, but in recent years the profits have been high and it is provocative. Many small and large companies have been hard hit by high interest rates and mortgage rates have been high, she says.
Taking responsibility
The Swedish Central Bank did not lower the interest rate the other day, as she puts it, so that the banks can earn more money, but to facilitate for households and provide future confidence and optimism. All banks, including SBAB, must now take their responsibility. And customers can press for more, according to Svantesson.
– We as customers should make higher demands, but one should also be aware that this is not a normal market, it is a concentrated market with a few large operators with a large market share, she says.
She regrets that the insight for the ordinary customer in the banks' interest rate setting is so limited. Unlike at the gas station, it is not possible to find out what others pay for the product.
