Finance minister: Sweden to stick to "fiscal responsibility"

Finance minister: Sweden to stick to "fiscal responsibility" Stockholm - The Swedish government remains committed to "fiscal responsibility" and is prepared to tackle rising unemployment, Finance Minister Anders Borg said Wednesday.

Presenting his spring budget to parliament, Borg underlined that an additional 10 billion kronor (1.2 billion dollars) was to be allocated for labour market programmes to help youth and people who have just become unemployed to find employment.

Recent projections suggest unemployment could rise to almost 12 per cent in 2011. The economy is also facing a sharp contraction.

Borg criticized the opposition for making too generous pledges, and warned against tax hikes and uncontrolled spending.

Thomas Ostros, economic affairs spokesman of the opposition Social Democrats, said the spring budget was "insufficient."

Ostros called for more funds to "infrastructure, and to invest in the health sector, education and investments that strengthen people's security."

The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise's chief economist Stefan Folster said "too much was allocated to labour market programmes and local government" and called for investments that would increase jobs. (dpa)

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