Swedish prime minister: fuel tax to be cut, high power cost to be compensated

The Swedish government plans to compensate households for higher electricity costs and to cut the tax on petrol and diesel amid soaring oil prices as developments in the Middle East rock markets, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Monday.

• Changes will be included in a budget amendment bill that the government submits to parliament on April 13, and which Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson last week said would contain 7.7 billion Swedish crowns ($812 million) worth of new spending.

• "Oil prices have risen sharply," Kristersson told a press conference. "All of this is currently affecting and may continue to affect the Swedish economy."

• Sweden is due to hold a general election on September 13.

• ($1 = 9.4839 Swedish crowns)

-Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Terje Solsvik/Reuters