EU recovery package must consider Finland's slow growth: Vanhanen

Finance Minister Matti Vanhanen said on Thursday the upcoming recovery package of the European Union must take into account the predicted growth estimates of each country, reported Xinhua.

In an European Commission economic review published this week, Finland got the lowest predicted growth rate for 2021 with 2.8 percent.

Talking to local media after Thursday's Eurogroup meeting, Vanhanen said he had told the Eurogroup that the low economic estimate for Finland must be reflected in the amount of direct assistance Finland receives in the EU recovery package.

Vanhanen repeated that Finland does not accept the original draft for the EU recovery package.

Finland has not yet received the revised suggestion from the president of the European Council.

Explaining the problems, Vanhanen said Finland is unusually dependent on exports revenue. Finland is mainly exporting investment goods, but the willingness to invest is currently uncertain in the main export area, Europe.

“Service-based societies" can recover fast, if no second wave of COVID-19 emerges, but Finland would be hit later. The recovery of Finnish economy "much depends on how quickly Finnish exports can reach the previous volume," Vanhanen said.

He recalled that the 2008 financial crisis caused a 10-year slowdown in Finland, and underlined that a similar repercussion should be avoided now in the COVID-19 crisis.

The recovery of the whole EU will also be decisive for the total amount of debt for Finland, said Vanhanen, adding that the current economic prospects of Finland are serious.