Big businesses' trust in Finnish economic policy weakens: Survey

Only one in four Finnish large corporations believes that the country's public finances are moving towards balance, according to a survey commissioned by OP Financial Group.

Fewer and fewer business leaders considered government borrowing to be under control, and confidence in the current government's economic policy has weakened notably during the government term, said OP in a press release on Tuesday referring to the Survey of Large Corporations.

Around three in four big businesses find that Finnish political leadership causes uncertainty for companies.

Meanwhile, 83 per cent of large corporations considered government borrowing to be out of control – this figure also increased by ten percentage points year-over-year.

Only around a quarter of Finnish large corporations believe that the country's public finances are moving towards balance.

Furthermore, fewer than 50 per cent of large corporations' executives believe that the current government will manage to actively eliminate structural drags and incentive traps in the labour market. The share of those still believing in this has decreased by 15 percentage points from the previous year.

"The impact of government policymaking on large corporations' business environment and markets is crucial for the companies' success and job creation ability. It's normal for assessments of the Finnish government's economic policy to vary over the government term. The results of last year's Survey of Large Corporations showed signs of optimism about the government's economic policy, but the responses this autumn were much less optimistic," said Professor Jaakko Aspara, director of the survey.

In addition to government policymaking, large corporations feel uncertain about the decision-making and processes of government agencies and public officials.

The decision-making of government agencies created uncertainty in 78 per cent of respondents to the survey.

According to the autumn 2024 responses, difficult government agency processes weaken large corporations' appetite for growth even more than the government's economic policy.

The patchy permit process related to labour immigration is one example.

"Just under half of business executives feel that the troublesome processes of government agencies reduce companies' interest in growth investments and renewal. This is concerning news. Large corporations need predictable and clear decision-making. We need a broader and closer culture of cooperation among policymakers, the authorities and businesses to eliminate obstacles to growth," said Katja Keitaanniemi, Chief Executive Officer of OP Corporate Bank.

In addition to the processes of government agencies, the government's policies are also considered to hamper labour immigration.

More than a third of business executives believe that the current government's immigration policy makes it considerably harder to recruit both basic-level employees and specialists from abroad.

The results are based on OP's annual Survey of Large Corporations, which measures large Finnish company executives' views on business and economic developments. A total of 207 senior executives representing 137 large Finnish corporations and large subsidiaries operating in Finland responded to the survey.

According to their latest certified financial statements, the responding companies have a combined revenue of over 202 billion euros, and they employ over 431,000 people in total.

The survey was conducted in the autumn of 2024. OP Financial Group carries out the Survey of Large Corporations in partnership with the Nordic Institute of Business and Society (NIBS) think tank founded by Aalto University professors.