Economy

Illustration picture Jonas Ekströmer/TT

The development of the Swedish krona 

The krona is strengthened in the short term following the Riksbank's move

   

The krona has strengthened against the euro and the dollar since the Riksbank today began its hedging of the currency reserve, writes Dagens Industri.  

 

The Riksbank began the sale of 8 billion dollars and 2 billion euros against Swedish kronor on Monday. It is expected to be fully implemented within four to six months. 

 

- In the coming months, they will be a tone-setting part of the market, Handelsbanken's currency strategist Lars Henriksson tells the newspaper, and points out that the Riksbank's move is important in the short term. 

 

In the long term, he sees a "slow strengthening of the krona", but he believes that there are more components that contribute to that, including less concern about the real estate sector. 

  

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The development of AI  

Amazon steps up AI battle - invests in Chat GPT rival  

 

The e-commerce giant Amazon will invest up to 4 billion dollars, equivalent to 44 billion kroner, in the AI company Anthropic. This is reported by several media.  

 

Amazon thus enters as a minority owner of Anthropic, which recently launched its Chat GPT challenger Claude 2.  

 

The two companies state that they are also entering into a strategic collaboration to promote the development of generative AI. Among other things, Anthropic will use Amazon's cloud services and AI chip to build its models.  

 

According to CNBC, Amazon's investment underlines that the company wants to keep pace with rivals such as Microsoft and Google in the AI field. 

 

Dombrovskis. Johanna Geron / AP  

 

The EU-China relationship  

EU: Shall set clearer trade borders with China 

 

The EU will tighten its competition rules and set sharper boundaries when it comes to defending its interests. This is what the Union's Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis says during a visit to China, writes Bloomberg. 

 

According to Dombrovskis, this is due to the lack of reciprocity and a level playing field on China's part.  

 

- It forces the EU to act more independently, says the commissioner and believes that the Union usually welcomes competition.

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Republican Chip Roy sees his more hard-line colleagues who do not agree with McCarthy's emergency solution. J. Scott Applewhite / AP  

Biden's budget  

Shutdown in the US close: "The ship can sink"  

A shutdown of the US state apparatus is getting closer as hard-line Republicans stick to their line, several media reports. 

Congress must agree on a budget that ensures funding by Oct. 1 or thousands of federal employees will be forced to stay home from work next Monday. This in turn threatens to damage households, companies and the entire economy, writes the Financial Times.   

The compromise President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached a few months ago angered more hard-line Republicans. McCarthy's latest proposal, which would give a respite of another 45 days, is now flatly rejected by several party colleagues. 

- I don't want to see a shutdown, but I have no doubt that the country is headed for a shutdown and that everyone should prepare for it, Texas Republican Tony Gonzales told CBS.  

Even Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett stands by his line that the budget must be balanced. 

- Our financial ship is sinking, he tells CNN.  

The Republicans blocking a deal believe that the Republicans are not getting enough of their policies through in the budget proposals that have been put forward.