• 'Sweden should cut taxes in poor areas'

Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg said Thursday that the Nordic country has shown more resilience than forecast to the crisis consuming much of Europe, strengthening the case for a corporate tax cut, the Dow Jones newswire reports.

"We have made the assessment that the Swedish economy is more resilient than we thought," Anders Borg told reporters in Stockholm. "The information that has come in suggests we may have to review our forecasts and revise them up."

Strong exports drove a stellar performance for Sweden's economy in the second quarter, shrugging off the effects of the euro zone debt crisis and supporting the central bank's view there is no need to cut interest rates.

Anders Borg said his ministry would be working on the forecasts in coming weeks, noting the labor market, domestic demand and exports had all fared better than expected, according to Dow Jones. This suggests Sweden has more room for investment than expected, and Mr. Borg added that a lower corporate tax might be part of the budget proposals.

"That is obviously one of the main issues that we will have to discuss. To my mind a lower corporate tax would be an essential part of an investment program," he said.

Previously this week a government-appointed commission recommended that Sweden should reduce payroll taxes by more than half for businesses in deprived areas to create more jobs and lower unemployment.