Sovereign of the year: Riksgälden

Sweden's national deficit forecast roughly trebled at the start of this year, after the central bank decided to boost its US dollar reserves. The Riksgälden publicly questioned the need for the money - but had to go through with the financing. This year has also seen the debt office start clearing its interest rate swaps

Maria Norström

December 12, 2012 was a working day like any other for Maria Norström and Thomas Olofsson of Riksgälden – Sweden’s national debt office – until the central bank came knocking on the door, wanting to borrow Skr100 billion in US dollars to boost its foreign exchange reserves.

It kicked off a six-week period of frenetic activity for Norström, head of funding, and Olofsson, head of debt management, who were being asked to oversee roughly a trebling of the forecast national deficit – a precaution