SWEDEN’S CENTRAL bank raised its main interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 0.5 per cent yesterday, joining neighbouring Norway as one of the few developed countries to have tightened monetary policy since the global financial crisis.

The move highlighted Sweden’s emergence as a relative haven from the economic uncertainty sweeping Europe as its robust public finances and accelerating recovery sets the Nordic country apart.

But the Riksbank tempered its optimism with a warning that growth could be hit by the euro zone debt crisis if austerity measures in Europe reduced demand for Swedish exports.

Norway’s central bank struck a similarly cautious tone last week when it kept its main interest rate on hold at 2 per cent.

Sweden’s recovery has been driven in part by surging demand for its industrial goods from China and other emerging markets but its export-dependent economy is still heavily exposed to Europe.

Sweden’s growth rate this year, projected to be 3.8 per cent, is expected to outpace that in most other European Union members.

Within the euro zone, Germany’s economy is performing strongly, with industrial optimism boosted by sharp increases in overseas orders.