Fiscal Policy Decision-Making in the Nordic Countries during COVID-19

The Nordic countries implemented very similar fiscal policies during the pandemic despite substantially different political contexts and decisionmaking processes. All of the countries were able to follow normal legislative processes, albeit at a faster-than-usual pace. Consensual decision-making and broad support for pandemic policies were common across the countries.

The policies provided generous support to households and firms, and in some cases to local governments, and relaxed the existing fiscal rules. In relative terms, the Nordic countries’ post-pandemic economic performance has been good. We interviewed decision-makers and experts who perceived the pandemic fiscal policies as generally successful, although in retrospect some support measures were badly targeted, and overall, the support was too generous.