During the autumn, the Riksbank raised the interest rate several times to push inflation down to two percent.

Exactly two percent has been the target for Swedish inflation since the 1990s.

But according to professor emeritus in economics Lars Calmfors, now is a good time to review the nearly 30-year-old inflation target.

- Right now, priority one is to bring inflation down, but in the slightly longer term, I think it would be good to have a higher inflation target, he says.

Coincidence that the target is 2 percent

According to Lars Calmfors, higher inflation would give the Riksbank more room to act if there is a recession.

- With low inflation, the interest rate will normally also be low, which means that you have very little headwind if there is a recession.

With slightly higher inflation, the drop would be higher, he says.

That the inflation target is exactly two percent can be seen as something of a coincidence.

It was introduced in 1995, after Sweden went through one of its worst economic crises.

Previously, low unemployment had been the top priority, but after the crisis years, the focus was on keeping inflation down.

According to the professor of economic history Lars Magnusson, there is no clear basis for why it was precisely 2 percent inflation that became the target.

- It is not "rocket science" that it was exactly 2 percent.

It could just as easily have been 1.5, 2.5 or 3 percent.

It was a political decision, you could say.

"Can't keep up and change"

But the proposal for a higher inflation target is criticised.

SEB's Chief Economist Jens Magnusson warns that this could undermine confidence that the Riksbank is really doing everything in its power to reach the current target.

- The consequence could be that we end up in a discussion about how high the target should be and when we can settle.

If you say 3 percent, you might as well say 4 percent and so on.

The risk with that discussion right now is that you don't think the Riksbank will make enough effort to get down to the goal we already have.

According to Lars Calmfors, a change would now be an exceptional case.

- You can't go on and change such a central goal all the time.

It can only be done once.

It must be well-motivated and there must have been a discussion beforehand, he says.