Norway and Sweden have been the first European countries to increase interest rates. Both economies are dominated by exports; this means that while they are the first to suffer in a down-turn, they are first to recover when things improve. Finland, which suffered its worst economic performance in over 90 years, is still struggling, while Denmark saw its economy grow by 0.5 per cent in the first quarter. Sweden has experience the largest improvement, probably because it has one of the lowest public deficits in Europe.
