OREANDA-NEWS. Sweden's central bank pledged to use the tools at its disposal to push inflation higher, the six members of the rate setting board wrote in a signed article in daily Dagens Nyheter on Wednesday.

With inflation well under its 2-percent target for several years, the Riksbank earlier in February introduced negative interest rates, bond purchases and said it was ready take further steps at short notice.

The board members said on Wednesday a trend of falling inflation expectations needed to be turned, not the least to work as an anchor for wage negotiations.

Expansionary policy from other central banks including the ECB was another reason for loose Swedish monetary policy in order for the Swedish crown not to strengthen, leading to even lower inflation.

The reason to worry about low inflation was not the threat of a deflationary spiral, however, but to safeguard the role of the inflation target as an anchor for prices and wages.

"Therefore we will use the tools we have at our disposal to make sure inflation rises to higher levels," the board members wrote.