*STOCKHOLM: Swedish Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Saturday the centre-left coalition government would introduce a bank tax to help fund greater defence spending from 2022.*
The Social Democrats and Greens said on Friday they had agreed with the Centre and Liberal Parties, which back them in parliament, to boost defence spending by 5 billion Swedish crowns ($520 million) a year from 2022 to 2025.
Sweden has been strengthening its armed forces and is concerned about increasing tensions with Russia in the Baltic region. Last year, Sweden said it would buy the Patriot air defence missile system from U.S. arms manufacturer Raytheon Co (RTN.N) in a 10 billion crown deal.