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NEW YORK, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Sweden's inflation data for January was "disappointingly" weak, one of the central bank's deputy governors said on Tuesday, as policymakers weigh up a possible first hike in interest rates since 2011.
Data released earlier on Tuesday showed annual inflation in Sweden last month stood at 1.7 percent, lower than forecast by both policymakers and analysts and below the bank's 2 percent target. The crown dipped on the news.
The data could nudge the Riksbank to delay any increase in the repo rate from its record low of -0.50 percent, which follows years of stubbornly low inflation despite healthy economic growth. "We are not done" getting inflation up, Martin Floden told a presentation in New York.
"We are still a little bit worried... Today's inflation numbers came in a little bit disappointingly," he said, adding that the services component in particular was surprisingly low.
The bank last week lowered its inflation forecast for 2018 to 1.8 percent from its 2.0 percent target and said it expected to start raising rates in the second half of the year, compared with the earlier guidance for the middle of the year. Analysts said a rate hike could now come as late as next year.
Floden said both the inflation figures and other disappointing domestic data had prompted the change of wording in the bank's statement.
Policymakers were more concerned about weak inflation at the February meeting than they had been at their December meeting, he added.
"We are actually more nervous about the inflationary pressure," he said, adding: "I think we would have changed the language even if we would not have had the negative surprises about inflationary pressure."
The path that inflation takes in the coming months will largely determine when the Riksbank begins hiking rates.
(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer in New York, writing by Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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