Swedish govt Jan budget in balance 

STOCKHOLM: Sweden's government ran a balanced budget in January, the Debt Office said on Wednesday, with net lending to government agencies cancelling out higher tax revenues.

The Debt Office had forecast a surplus of 2.3 billion crowns ($288.95 million).

Sweden ran a bigger-than-expected budget surplus of 61.8 billion crowns in 2017.

Strong state finances have led the Debt Office to gradually reduce issuance of government bonds, linkers and treasury bills with liquidity in the market further squeezed by the Riksbank's 290 billion quantitative easing programme.

The Debt Office will publish its next forecast for government borrowing on Feb. 21.