"Banks follow market interest rates that rise or fall. We follow that closely and there is usually a pretty strong correlation," says Thedéen about mortgage interest rate increases.
Should be visible
But the same interest rate increase should be applied to banks' customer deposits, Thedéen believes.
One wonders why the banks don't simultaneously raise interest rates on savings and transaction accounts, because it should also be visible there, he says.
It's a question that should be raised. What about savings interest rates? he adds.
SEB announces, following Thedéen's statement, that as of Wednesday, the major bank will raise the savings interest rate by 0.15 percentage points on investment accounts where deposits are locked for three months. This is the same size as the increase in the variable three-month mortgage interest rate that the bank made on Tuesday.
The Swedish Central Bank Governor also warns that the war in the Middle East - which began with the US and Israel's bombing attacks on Iran on February 28 - could be prolonged and extensive. This could lead to a situation that requires monetary policy tightening, i.e. a higher policy rate from the Swedish Central Bank.
"Unfortunately, we must conclude that the crisis continues and that the oil price is high," says Thedéen, when comparing it to the situation two weeks ago.
It will necessarily spill over into direct inflationary effects, i.e. diesel and petrol prices and things like that, he adds.
"Very large movements"
In the market's pricing, which has moved dramatically during the Iran war, the market is currently pricing in three increases in the policy rate this year. The Swedish Central Bank's main scenario had been a rate increase at the end of 2027, when it decided to leave the policy rate unchanged at 1.75 percent two weeks ago.
Despite the war and market turbulence, Thedéen sees no systemic threats to the financial market.
The big drama in terms of financial markets is in the commodity and oil markets. But also in the fixed income market. Here there have been very, very big movements. But so far there have been no clear signs - certainly not in Sweden - that it would shake up the system.
