os finlandeses... os maiores opositores a tudo o que fosse auxílio à Grécia. Os maiores defensores da austeridade.
Stubb’s administration tried to curb debt growth by raising taxes and cutting expenditure. Instead, the measures choked the economy and left a bigger relative debt burden to pay down. None of the government’s economic pledges were borne out and Finland was stripped of its prized AAA credit rating in October by Standard & Poor’s.
Millionaire-Led Party Wins Finnish Vote Vowing to End Recession
Finland’s Center Party, led by self-made millionaire Juha Sipila, won national elections as Finns look for a path out of the country’s economic sclerosis.
After three years of recession, Finland’s next government will need to repair the damage done by lost trade with Russia and the demise of a consumer electronics industry once led by Nokia Oyj. The decline of another key employer, the paper industry, has also wiped out thousands of jobs. Unemployment was 10.1 percent in February as economic growth sputters at half the euro-zone average.
Sipila, a 53-year-old engineer by training, has promised to inject new life into the $220 billion economy by creating 200,000 private-sector jobs over the next decade and promoting business-friendly policies including more predictable tax laws.
“We need to have unanimity that there are no magic tricks,” Sipila said in comments broadcast by YLE TV1. “It’s a 10-year project to fix the economy, get the economy competitive again. Balancing public finances is a second priority.”
After standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Germany during the darkest hours of Europe’s debt crisis, Finland has become one of the region’s worst-performing economies. The Finance Ministry estimates 6 billion euros ($6.5 billion) of austerity measures are needed by 2019 to prevent debt reaching 70 percent of gross domestic product. It also says there’s no scope to raise taxes without stifling economic growth.
Greek Rescue
Sipila, whose Center Party was backed by 22.5 percent with more than 80 percent of votes counted, according to the Justice Ministry, will try to form a majority coalition that may include the euro-skeptic The Finns party, poised to get 17.6 percent. He will probably need to turn to either the Social Democrats or the National Coalition of outgoing Prime Minister Alexander Stubb to complete his coalition. Parties will now hold talks to form a government.
Timo Soini, leader of The Finns, said his party will try to influence the new government’s stance on European rescue packages, including talks with Greece.
“No one likes constructing these bailouts,” he said in an interview.
Austerity isn’t what splits Finland’s political parties. All major groups have pledged some combination of belt-tightening and growth policies to address the challenges posed by Europe’s fastest-aging population. Sipila has made clear he favors spending cuts after ruling out higher taxes.
Brace Yourself
Stubb’s administration tried to curb debt growth by raising taxes and cutting expenditure. Instead, the measures choked the economy and left a bigger relative debt burden to pay down. None of the government’s economic pledges were borne out and Finland was stripped of its prized AAA credit rating in October by Standard & Poor’s.
Stubb told Sipila to brace himself. “This isn’t an easy job,” the outgoing prime minister said on YLE TV1.
Sipila has warned that Finland still faces a tough decade. His party wants to continue budget cuts and to lower social security fees. It also plans to loosen labor market regulations to keep deficits from widening as it tries to stimulate growth.
Sipila says his proposed measures will ensure the debt-to-GDP ratio declines “within a couple of years.”
“The situation will change over the next four years,” he told YLE TV1. “We’ll assess how we can change with the changing times.”
bloomberg
