According to the exchange company Forex, several customers have had problems exchanging Swedish cash for local currency abroad. In the last week, the volume of calls about shifting problems has increased significantly and it does not appear to be slowing down.
– It has rather increased, says Tom Friberg.
Many travelers therefore risk getting stuck.
The reason seems to be that Swedish banks no longer want to repatriate, i.e. buy back, Swedish money from abroad. Then foreign banks stop exchanging Swedish money, because they cannot resell it.
– Because then they build up a stock of money that they cannot convert, says Tom Friberg, head of communications at Forex.
According to Tom Friberg, there is no solution to the problem if you traveled abroad with Swedish money. The only solution is to exchange them before the trip.
– Then it is the case that the Swedish krona has never been particularly viable abroad when it comes to cash, he says.
Money laundering is believed to be behind it
We do not know exactly why Swedish banks no longer buy Swedish currency. But earlier this spring, the same thing happened at Danish banks, and that time it was about money laundering.
“The banks assess that they cannot obtain sufficient assurance that they can fulfill their obligations under the anti-money laundering rules”, wrote the Danish Riksbank last spring.
The Riksbank announces that the actions of the Swedish banks are not due to any central announcement on their part.
– We are investigating what is causing it. The Riksbank is not involved in the exchange process, says Susanne Meyer Söderlind, press secretary at the Riksbank.
The Banking Association is also investigating the behavior, but has no information to give about why it is happening, but think they will come out with more information on Monday.
The Danes rejoice
At the same time as the Swedes are suffering from exchange rate turmoil, our neighbors in Denmark are rejoicing over the weakness of the Swedish krona. It has not been this weak since the financial crisis in 2009, which gives the Danes a big buying spree when it travels to Sweden.
Danes now make a pilgrimage to the Emporia shopping center in Malmö to buy goods that can cost half of what they cost in Denmark.
– The only thing that is strange is that there are not even more Danes who go here and shop, says Dane Hans Lyndrup, to TT.
The Swedish krona has lost ground against the Danish krone since 2012. Last year it fell by 11 percent. The difference has become so noticeable that Danish newspapers have published guides on how much you can save by shopping in Sweden.
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