Bloomberg said Swedish retail sales growth accelerated last month after the central bank cut interest rates to support the slowing economy growth.

Sales grew an annual 2.5 percent in December, compared with 0.9 percent the previous month, Statistics Sweden said Monday.

Increased sales came as Sweden’s central bank reduced its interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point for a fourth time in a year, bringing it to 1 percent. Bloomberg said the Nordic country suffers from slowing export demand.

Sweden’s krona strengthened to a 15- month high against the U.S. dollar Friday after Riksbank’s First Deputy Governor Kerstin af Jochnick said the central bank will stay vigilant on household debt when setting interest rates.