Urban Bäckström (born 25 May 1954 in Sollefteå, Västernorrlands län) is a Swedish economist who was CEO of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise from 2005 to 2014 and governor of the Bank of Sweden from 1994 to 2002.

Urban Bäckström
Born(1954-05-25)25 May 1954
NationalitySwedish
Occupationeconomist

Personal life

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Bäckström grew up in Visby and Helsingborg and graduated with a degree in economics from Stockholm University. He is married to Ewa, who works for SAS. The couple has two children.

Career

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Urban Bäckström started his career at the Ministry of Finance during the Thorbjörn Fälldin government. He was later the chief economist for the centre-right Moderate Party. While state secretary at the Ministry of Finance he was involved among other things in the management of Sweden's financial crisis of the early 1990s. In 1994 he was appointed governor of the Bank of Sweden. After the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Bäckström worked to restabilize the krona, which had begun to be affected by the worldwide crisis during the second quarter of 1998.[1] As one of his duties as governor, he served on the board of directors of the Bank for International Settlements.[2]

Having resigned in 2002, he was appointed CEO of Skandia Liv, part of the Skandia group of insurance companies. In 2005[3] he became CEO of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, which represents larger companies and employers.[4]

He has been a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences since 2003.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Tobias Straumann (14 June 2010). Fixed Ideas of Money: Small States and Exchange Rate Regimes in Twentieth-Century Europe. Cambridge University Press. p. 337. ISBN 978-0-521-11271-0. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  2. ^ James Calvin Baker (2002). The Bank for International Settlements: Evolution and Evaluation. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-56720-518-3. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  3. ^ Lars Mjoset (1 December 2011). The Nordic Varieties of Capitalism. Emerald Group Publishing. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-85724-777-3. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  4. ^ Ibrahim Filiz (11 September 2009). Capital Cost Planning: Topically Orientated Trend Adjustment on the Swedish Market: From January 1995 Through December 2008. GRIN Verlag. p. 18. ISBN 978-3-640-42077-3. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  5. ^ Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences: Bäckström, Urban, accessed 2010-06-13
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Government offices
Preceded by Governor of the Swedish National Bank
1994–2002
Succeeded by
Other offices
Preceded by Director-General of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise
2005–2014
Succeeded by