Voting by the Executive Board

The Executive Board of the Riksbank consists of members with different backgrounds, experiences and knowledge so that decisions on monetary policy are based on several different perspectives on economic developments.

Read more: The Executive Board and its members

This also means that there may be different views on what is the most appropriate monetary policy decision at the time. Even if there is a consensus on the economic outlook and the forecasts, there may be different views on what constitutes a well-balanced monetary policy. If there are different opinions in the Executive Board, it is the majority view that is expressed in the decision and in the Monetary Policy Report. If there is no majority for a decision, the Governor of the Riksbank has the casting vote.

The press release reporting the decision of the Executive Board from the monetary policy meeting also contains brief information on whether any of the members has entered a reservation against the decision, as well as their reasons for doing so.

Approximately five working days after a monetary policy meeting, the minutes are published, setting out the reasoning behind each member's decision. The minutes will make it clearer if and how members' views differ. Once the minutes are published, the members can also publicly express their own views on the decision. This clarifies their individual responsibilities, which also facilitates an evaluation of monetary policy.

A summary of how each member voted on the policy rate at the monetary policy meetings can be found in the link "Historical interest rate voting 1999 and onwards".