Sweden sets interest rate below zero in deflation scare

The Swedish central bank sent its base interest rate into unprecedented negative territory on Thursday in a radical move to stop stagnant price levels from slumping into deflation. The bank dropped its zero interest rate to -0.1 percent and announced it would buy government bonds worth 10 billion kronor ($1.18 billion, 1.04 billion euros) in a bid to bring its inflation rate -- which has hovered around zero for two years -- closer to its two-percent target. Swedish price levels have been stagnan