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Sun, 16 Nov, 2014 12:10:14 AM Failure to take measures to face economic crisis FTimes – STT Report, Nov. 16  President Sauli Niinistö. File Photo – Lehtikuva. President Sauli Niinistö has criticised recent governments for creating an illusion of economic policy management instead of taking practical and time-befitting measures to face the country’s economic difficulties.
Former prime minister Esko Aho later seconded Niinistö’s view.
A number of regional newspapers including the Keskisuomalainen, Savon Sanomat, Etelä-Suomen Sanomat, and Karjalainen published on Saturday an interview of the president in which he held the governments since 2007 responsible for doing the mistake.
“In the name of resuscitation, the government maintained debt, high levels of spending and old structures,” Niinistö said, referring to the economic policies taken by the then Matti Vanhanen government in 2007.
According to the president, an illusion has been created of making painful economic decisions, even if the decisions are still to be made.
Vanhanen stepped down in June 2010 on health ground, following a swirl of scandals, and Mari Kiviniemi took over as the prime minister to run the government till mid-2011.
Later Jyrki Katainen, elected prime minister in 2011, had run the country with the same illusion till mid-2014 and the present prime minister, Alexander Stubb, has also been following the wrong strategy, said Niinistö.
Ex-Prime Minister Esko Aho. File Photo – Str / Lehtikuva. The president said the situation took a bad turn, but successive governments tried to show that everything was taken care of properly, although the government made very little efforts to overcome the situation.
The basic situation of the government is extremely embarrassing, Niinistö remarked.
The president also criticised the news media for not being alert enough in this regard.
“When the spending limits were estimated in last spring, it was thought that everything is almost done,” said Niinistö, pointing out the role of news media.
Meanwhile, in an interview with YLE, former prime minister Esko Aho has agreed with President Sauli Niinistö about the government’s failure in economic policy management, terming the government programmes wishful thoughts.
“Politicians need to create a strategy,” Aho quipped and said the Economic Policy Committee’s role should be strengthened.
The former premier said the then government in 2007-2008 failed to understand that the country was in structural problems.
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