Finland Times

 

The Finnish economy will experience the fourth consecutive year of negative growth in 2015 followed by a fragile growth in 2016, Nordea Band predicted in its new economic outlook published on Tuesday.

In addition, the bank estimated that the average annual economic growth of Finland for the current decade will be close to zero.

The Finnish economy will be still stuck in recession with -0.3 percent growth in 2015, said Nordea,it will resume to growth by 1.0 percent in 2016.

The bank explained that the economic downturn in Russia hits the Finnish economy harder than the other Nordic countries. With the serious structural problem, Finland is also struggling with a risk of new growth disappointments.

 According to Nordea, the recovery from the current recession needs longer time than the resurgence of the severe economic depression in the early 1990s, which was driven by the rise of Nokia and the high-tech industry in Finland.

Finland needs to reduce labor costs to improve the export sector's competitiveness, cut taxes to support domestic purchasing power and lower publish spending, said Aki Kangasharju, Nordea's chief economist in a press release issued by Nordea Bank.

The economist urged the Finnish government to implement its planned structural reforms as soon as possible, in order to revive the economy.