Rate decision due March 27, 0830 GMT
All 17 analysts see policy rate remaining at 4.00
Riksbank expected to flag cut in June
Rates expected to fall to around 3.00 by year end
Link to the data

STOCKHOLM, March 25 Reuters Sweden39;s central bank will keep rates at 4.00 this week and is expected to flag that it will start cutting rates in the months ahead as long as inflation remains tame, a Reuters poll of analysts showed on Monday.

After two years of rapid rate hikes, headline inflation has finally slowed to near the central bank39;s 2 target after peaking at over 10. Meanwhile, growth has ground to a halt and unemployment is rising.

All 17 analysts in the poll expected the policy rate to be unchanged on March 27, but for the Riksbank to signal a cut in May or June.

The domestic data support a move already in May, but the question is how concerned the board is about the ramifications for the krona, JP Morgan said in a note.

A wait and see approach until June when more data will be available and the FedECB presumably have cut rates could make sense.

Ten economists saw policy easing starting in June with seven picking May.

A cut would be the first by the Riksbank since early 2016 when the policy rate hit an alltime low of 0.50

Negative or zero rates lasted until 2022 when Russia39;s invasion of Ukraine sparked a surge in prices and forced the central bank to ratchet up borrowing costs at a record pace.

In February, the Riksbank said rates had now peaked and…