STOCKHOLM, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Sweden's central bank slashed its key interest rate by a full point to a record low 1.0 percent on Wednesday as it sought to bolster a rapidly deteriorating economy.
The repo rate is now at its lowest level since its introduction in 1994 and marks the lowest official Swedish interest rate since records began in 1907. The previous trough was 1.50 percent, reached in 2005.
A Reuters poll last week showed 11 of 19 economists expected a 50 basis points cut while seven expected a 75 basis points cut. One had forecast no change.
The Swedish economy slid into recession in the third quarter of 2008 and figures for the fourth quarter have been uniformly dire. On Tuesday, industrial production statistics showed December's output had fallen by a fifth from a year earlier.
The Riksbank's discount rate fell as low as 2.5 percent in the 1930s and in the 1940s. Its marginal rate, used from 1987 to 1994, never fell that low.
For stories on Swedish interest rate decisions, click on [SERATE=ECI] (Editing by Mike Peacock)