ISLAMABAD/STOCKHOLM: Facing the highest levels of inflation in more than thirty years and poised for recession, Sweden’s visible signs of poverty are mounting amid increasing inequality.
“So many citizens are coming here to breakfast,” said Kavian Ferdowsi, who runs a charity in Stockholm to help the homeless.
“In the 13 years that I have run this, we’ve never had so many people,” he told AFP as his colleagues served cinnamon buns and coffee.
The effects of the war in Ukraine have struck Sweden. Its currency, the krona, is weaker than ever against the euro, and aggressive interest rate hikes have left many households with hefty mortgage payments.
Sweden’s economy has become one of the worst performers in Europe. After a spike in electricity prices at the start of the winter season, food prices that went up by 20 percent from an year ago are now Swedes’ primary concern.
According to official statistics released on Wednesday, inflation has hovered stubbornly at around 12 percent since November.
A Stockholm University economist, Annika Alexius said, “the first wave of inflation was just energy and few import prices. But now it has spread to the entire economy,”.
Making ends meet
Low-income households, which were already struggling to make ends meet, have been affected the most, but even the country’s middle class – who, due to years of low-interest rates, are among the most indebted in Europe – are finding it difficult to cope with skyrocketing mortgage payments.
A shop run by the Red Cross in the capital sells leftover supermarket items at cut-rate prices.
Marianne Orberg, a former lawyer, has picked up a few radishes and bread rolls at her twice-weekly shop there. While the pensioner insisted she’s not among those worst off, she is mindful not to strain her savings.
“Citizens have changed their eating habits. You eat different types of food nowadays to make ends meet,” Orberg said.
