1 Krona (War between Russia and Sweden - Separation from Finland) – Sweden

In 2009, Sweden was navigating the severe global financial crisis, which had a profound impact on its currency, the Swedish krona (SEK). The crisis triggered a global "flight to safety," with investors moving capital away from smaller, open economies like Sweden's and into perceived safe-haven assets such as the US dollar, Japanese yen, and Swiss franc. Consequently, the krona experienced significant depreciation, losing roughly 15% of its value against the euro from mid-2008 to early 2009. This sharp decline was exacerbated by Sweden's heavy dependence on exports, particularly in the automotive and engineering sectors, which faced collapsing global demand.

Domestically, the Riksbank, Sweden's central bank, responded aggressively to the economic downturn. In a historic move, it cut its main policy interest rate from 1.75% in December 2008 to just 0.25% by July 2009. While these drastic cuts were aimed at stimulating the domestic economy and preventing deflation, they also had the side effect of reducing the yield appeal of the krona, contributing to its weakness. This period highlighted a critical debate: a weaker krona helped Swedish exporters by making their goods cheaper abroad, but it also increased the cost of imports and foreign debt, presenting a complex policy challenge.

By late 2009, the situation began to stabilize. As global financial markets tentatively recovered and risk appetite slowly returned, the krona regained some strength. Sweden's relatively strong public finances and banking system, which had avoided the massive bailouts seen elsewhere, eventually bolstered confidence in the currency. The events of 2009 underscored the krona's vulnerability to global risk sentiment and set the stage for the Riksbank's subsequent focus on financial stability and its later pioneering role in experimenting with negative interest rates in the following decade.