Budgetpromenaden, or the budget walk, is a traditional biannual procession when the Swedish finance minister walk with a copy of the budget bill from the Ministry of Finance to the Riksdag (the Parliament), a distance of 400 metres (440 yd).

Budgetpromenaden
Finance minister (later Prime Minister) Magdalena Andersson carrying the fall budget bill to the parliament on the 23 October 2014.
DateApril (spring budget)
September–October (fall budget)
LocationStockholm, Sweden
TypePolitical event

The minister is followed by a large gathering of journalists and various political activists and is usually given extensive media coverage. Sometime minor incidents occur, like in April 2001 when a 21-year-old threw a cake on then finance minister Bosse Ringholm.

The physical budget bill has traditionally been delivered in paper form, called "den nådiga luntan" (English: "the gracious tome"). Later social democratic governments have made a point of using digital storage media such as CD's from 1996, and later flash drives. When Sweden got a center-right government in 2006 the new finance minister Anders Borg returned to paper tomes. During 2017's budget walk, finance minister Magdalena Andersson carried a tome of 3 906 pages that weighed 10.5 kilograms (23 lb).[1]

Notable budget walks

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  • 20 September 1999 - Bosse Ringholm's first budget bill delivered as both CD and paper tome.[2]
  • 17 April 2001 - A 21-year-old throws a cake on Bosse Ringholm.[3]
  • 14 April 2005 - Pär Nuder's first budget walk, the budget bill is delivered as CD.
  • 20 September 2005 - The CD is replaced with a USB flash drive, that Nuder carries in a blue ribbon around his neck.
  • 16 October 2006 - Anders Borg delivers his first budget bill as paper tomes in purple binders.[4]
  • 23 October 2014 - Magdalena Andersson delivers her first budget bill.
  • 8 November 2022 - Elisabeth Svantesson delivers her first budget bill.
 
Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson delivers her first budget

References

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  1. ^ "Lugn budgetpromenad under Säpokontroll" [Quiet budget walk under Säpo control]. Sydsvenskan (in Swedish). 20 September 2017. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  2. ^ Salomonsson, Claes (20 September 1999). "Nöjd Ringholm lämnade över sin första lunta" [Satisfied Ringholm hands over his first tome]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 3 May 2014.
  3. ^ Sohlander, Annika; Thunblad, Claes (17 April 2001). "Ringholm fick tårta i ansiktet" [Ringholm got cake on his face]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  4. ^ Behdjou, Behrang; Sjödin, Frida (16 October 2006). "Tumult vid Borgs promenad" [Tumult at Borg's walk]. Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 10 March 2016.