To main content
  • Start
  • Members and parties
  • Committees
  • Documents and laws
  • How the Riksdag works
The Swedish Parliament logotype, back to start page The Swedish Parliament logotype, back to start page
  • Listen
  • På svenska
  • Start
  • Members and parties
  • Committees
  • Documents and laws
  • How the Riksdag works
Listen
  • Start
  • How the Riksdag works
  • The budget process

The budget process

Determining the central government budget is one of the Riksdag's most important tasks. The Riksdag's work with the central government budget begins in April when the Government submits the Spring Fiscal Policy Bill containing the proposed guidelines for Sweden's economic policy. In September, the Government presents the Budget Bill, which contains proposals for central government revenue and expenditure for the coming budget year.

Pile of the Government´s Budget Bill for 2021.

On 21 September 2020, the Government submitted the Budget Bill for 2021 to the Riksdag. It contains proposals for central government revenue and expenditure for the coming budget year. Photo: Anders Löwdin

The Ministry of Finance is the part of the Government Offices that helps the Government to prepare its proposals for the central government budget. The Minister for Finance is head of the Ministry of Finance.

Members of the Riksdag can always submit counter-proposals to the Government's budget proposals. Before the Chamber of the Riksdag takes a decision on the central government budget, the parliamentary committees prepare the decision by first considering all the proposals. Of the parliamentary committees, the Committee on Finance has a special role in the Riksdag's consideration of the central government budget.

April: the Spring Fiscal Policy Bill

The Government submits the Spring Fiscal Policy Bill to the Riksdag by no later than 15 April. The Spring Fiscal Policy Bill contains guidelines for the economic policy that forms the basis of the forthcoming budget proposal in the autumn. The Riksdag adopts a decision on the Spring Fiscal Policy Bill in June.

September: the Budget Bill

Except in an election year, the Government submits the Budget Bill to the Riksdag by 20 September. In an election year, the Budget Bill is submitted later. The Budget Bill contains proposals for central government revenue and expenditure for the coming budget year.

At the end of November, a decision is first taken on the total limit for central government expenditure and how much money will go to different areas of society - the expenditure areas. The Riksdag also determines an estimate for central government revenue. In mid-December the Riksdag decides how the funds are to be distributed within each expenditure area of the central government budget.

April and September the following year: revised budgets

Sometimes things do not turn out as the Government and Riksdag had intended. A public authority may need more money than planned. The Government can then propose a revision of the central government budget, even though it has already started to apply. On, at most, two occasions, the Government can submit a Government bill containing revisions to the central government budget for the current budget year. This is known as a revised budget, and the Government submits such proposals, in connection with its Spring Fiscal Policy Bill in April and the Budget Bill in September.

A Government bill with proposals for revisions to the central government budget can only be submitted on other occasions if the Government considers that there are special grounds for doing so.

 

Reviewed: 22 August 2018

  • Share on facebook
  • Share on twitter
  • Share on linkedin
  • Share by e-mail
  • Väljare lämnar fram sina valkuvert till en valfunktionär

    Democracy

    • Elections to the Riksdag
    • Forming a government
    • Referendums
    • The Constitution
    • The Riksdag in Swedish society
    • The history of the Riksdag
  • En lagbok och talmannens ordförandeklubba ligger på bordet vid talmannens plats i kammaren

    What does the Riksdag do?

    • Makes laws
    • Determines the budget
    • Examines the work of the Government
    • Works with EU matters
    • Foreign policy
  • Budgetdebatt 21 sep 2020. Flera tryckta budgetpropositoner ligger ovanpå varandra.

    The budget process

    • The Spring Fiscal Policy Bill
    • The Budget Bill
    • Revised budgets
  • Översiktsbild av kammaren under partiledardebatten. Statsminister Stefan Löfven (S) och Ebba Busch Thor (KD) står i var sin talarstol

    The work of the Riksdag

    • Debates and decisions in the Chamber
    • The parliamentary committees at work
    • The Committee on European Union Affairs at work
    • The members at work
    • The parties at work
    • What is what in the Chamber?
  • Talmännen står uppradade bakom podiet i riksdagens kammare. De är alla klädda i blått och svart.

    The Speaker

    • The tasks of the Speaker
    • Deputy Speakers
  • Ledamöter sitter runt ett bord

    The members’ pay and conditions

    • Members’ pay
    • Attendance, absence and leave from the Riksdag
    • The members’ overnight accommodation
    • The members’ official journeys
    • Pensions and severance packages after the assignment as a member
    • Code of conduct for members
  • Bordflaggor från olika länder står på podiet i Andrakammarsale

    International activities

    • Parliamentary assemblies
    • Election monitoring
    • Interparliamentary cooperation in the EU
    • Friendship groups
  • Riksbankshuset

    Authorities and boards under the Riksdag

    • The Parliamentary Ombudsmen (JO)
    • The National Audit Office
    • Swedish central bank (the Riksbank)
    • The Board for the Remuneration of the Parliamentary Ombudsmen and the Auditors General
    • The Board for Financial Support to Political Parties
    • The Riksdag Disciplinary Board
    • The Riksdag Remunerations Board
    • The Riksdag Appeals Board
    • The Ministerial Remunerations Board
    • The Election Review Board
    • The Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs
    • The War Delegation
    • The Board for the Examination of Transitionary Restrictions for Ministers and State Secretaries
  • En man och tre kvinnor sitter jämte varandra vid ett bord och tittar ner på en folder.

    The Riksdag Administration

    • Activities
    • Official documents

Our websites

EU Information Open data Celebrate democracy!

Follow The Swedish Parliament

The Swedish Parliament on Twitter The Swedish Parliament on YouTube The Swedish Parliament on Instagram The Swedish Parliament on LinkedInn

Follow the Speaker

The speaker on Twitter The speaker on Instagram

Subscribe

The Riksdag offers various subscription services for those wanting to follow what is happening in the committees and the Chamber.
Follow and subscribe

Switchboard

08-786 40 00

The Riksdag Information Service

020-349 000
riksdagsinformation@riksdagen.se

Registrar

registrator.riksdagsforvaltningen@riksdagen.se
Contact Media Visit the Riksdag
The Riksdag Library Order and download
The Swedish Parliament logotype, back to start page
All public power in Sweden proceeds from the people and the Riksdag is the foremost representative of the people.
  • About the website
  • Cookies
  • Listen
  • På svenska
Till toppen