Mikael Damberg, economic policy spokesperson for S, is critical of the government borrowing money, including for electricity subsidies and reduced fuel taxes, in the spring budget amendment.
"We have a prime minister and a finance minister who have wasted the Swedish people's money," he says at a press conference.
He also thinks the government is too optimistic in its economic forecasts. The government's forecast, from March this year, expects growth of 2.8 percent for the Swedish economy in 2026.
"I wouldn't be surprised if reality catches up with the government," says Damberg.
Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson (M) admits in a debate in the Riksdag that it is not "likely" that growth will turn out to match the government's forecast.
"What we know is that oil and gas prices have risen significantly and that the stock markets are shaking. This applies to Sweden and every single country; we are all affected by what is happening," she says.
"An election budget"
The Center Party's economic policy spokesperson Martin Ådahl shares the view that the growth forecast is overly optimistic.
"It appears to be a completely unrealistic forecast," he says.
Ådahl calls the spring budget "more of an election budget than a real spring budget."
He says it lacks initiatives to counteract high unemployment and believes that the 1.4 billion kronor spent on repatriation grants should have gone to jobs and schools instead.
The Left Party's economic policy spokesperson Ida Gabrielsson believes that the government has not supported the most needy households sufficiently in its budget, but has instead "spread" the measures widely.
"Now we are in the middle of an energy crisis with households already under extreme pressure," she says.
"Short-term gasoline populism"
The Green Party criticizes the government's reduction in fuel taxes:
"We spend 16 times more on subsidizing fossil fuels than on helping Swedes switch to electric cars," says the party's economic policy spokesperson, Janine Alm Ericson, continuing:
"The government is meeting the oil crisis with short-term gasoline populism and leading the Swedish people straight into a dead end."
Within two weeks at the latest, the opposition parties will present their alternatives to the government's spring budget.
