Budgetpromenaden, or the budget walk, is a traditional biannual procession when the Swedish finance minister walk with a copy of the budget bill from the Ministry of Finance to the Riksdag (the Parliament), a distance of 400 metres (440 yd).
 Finance minister (later Prime Minister) Magdalena Andersson carrying the fall budget bill to the parliament on the 23 October 2014. | |
| Date | April (spring budget) September–October (fall budget) |
|---|---|
| Location | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Type | Political event |
The minister is followed by a large gathering of journalists and various political activists and is usually given extensive media coverage. Sometime minor incidents occur, like in April 2001 when a 21-year-old threw a cake on then finance minister Bosse Ringholm.
The physical budget bill has traditionally been delivered in paper form, called "den nådiga luntan" (English: "the gracious tome"). Later social democratic governments have made a point of using digital storage media such as CD's from 1996, and later flash drives. When Sweden got a center-right government in 2006 the new finance minister Anders Borg returned to paper tomes. During 2017's budget walk, finance minister Magdalena Andersson carried a tome of 3 906 pages that weighed 10.5 kilograms (23 lb).[1]
Notable budget walks edit
- 20 September 1999 - Bosse Ringholm's first budget bill delivered as both CD and paper tome.[2]
- 17 April 2001 - A 21-year-old throws a cake on Bosse Ringholm.[3]
- 14 April 2005 - Pär Nuder's first budget walk, the budget bill is delivered as CD.
- 20 September 2005 - The CD is replaced with a USB flash drive, that Nuder carries in a blue ribbon around his neck.
- 16 October 2006 - Anders Borg delivers his first budget bill as paper tomes in purple binders.[4]
- 23 October 2014 - Magdalena Andersson delivers her first budget bill.
References edit
- ^ "Lugn budgetpromenad under Säpokontroll" [Quiet budget walk under Säpo control]. Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). 20 September 2017. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
- ^ Salomonsson, Claes (20 September 1999). "Nöjd Ringholm lämnade över sin första lunta" [Satisfied Ringholm hands over his first tome]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 3 May 2014.
- ^ Sohlander, Annika; Thunblad, Claes (17 April 2001). "Ringholm fick tårta i ansiktet" [Ringholm got cake on his face]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
- ^ Behdjou, Behrang; Sjödin, Frida (16 October 2006). "Tumult vid Borgs promenad" [Tumult at Borg's walk]. Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 10 March 2016.