Opposition's concern about squandered budget

The government is allocating 60 billion kronor for reforms in the 2025 budget, which is as much as they think they can afford in unfunded measures.

So far, Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson (M) has not revealed any details from the budget, but several proposals for tax cuts have been sent out for consideration, and it's no secret that The Moderate Party would like to implement some of them.

The Liberals' economic policy spokesperson Mikael Damberg thinks it's a strange priority.

Because you can't give clear answers to all the healthcare staff who are struggling today and have faced cuts and savings all over Sweden, he says.

Healthcare and measures to reduce unemployment and increase growth are at the top of the Liberals' priority list ahead of the budget.

"Wasting away"

Both Damberg and the Centre Party's economic policy spokesperson Martin Ådahl point out that Sweden has one of the lowest growth rates in the EU and rising unemployment.

Ådahl is worried that the government will now "waste away" the reform space.

That they won't be able to prioritize growth, climate measures, infrastructure. They've said it several times before, and every time it has instead resulted in a lot of populist measures, he says.

The Green Party and the Left Party think the state should be able to borrow for long-term investments such as infrastructure, climate, and energy.

We see that they're investing too little and that it's too late, says the Green Party's economic policy spokesperson Janine Alm Ericson about the reform space.

The government seems to be putting large resources into tax cuts for people with large stock portfolios and high incomes instead, says Alm Ericson.

Low national debt

The Left Party's economic policy spokesperson Ida Gabrielsson is also critical of the tax cuts the government has talked about.

It's not people hoarding money that's the best way to affect the economic downturn, says Ida Gabrielsson.

We have a uniquely low national debt. Now we need to invest in things that will pay off in the long run and increase growth, she says.