Articles on the economy
Russia’s war in Ukraine threatens to push Finland and the entire euro area economy into recession. Disruptions in energy availability and supply chains may turn out to be more severe than anticipated, and market rates could rise more rapidly than expected.
In the Bank of Finland forecast, the COVID-19 crisis is not expected to cause such a deep recession as experienced in the financial crisis, and recovery will be faster. The virus could, however, leave long-term scars on e.g. employment, the capital stock and productivity.
Global uncertainties are weakening investment growth in Finland. A similar effect is being exerted by structural factors in the domestic economy.
Abundant construction in the Helsinki metropolitan area has put a brake on apartment prices.
Output is growing faster than its potential and the Finnish economy is expected to remain at its cyclical peak during 2018–2020.
In both the United States and the euro area, economic growth has picked up and the labour market has strengthened without the build-up of significant wage and price pressures. This raises the question as to how far the economy can still be from its potential output.
The expanded asset purchase programme has also had a significant effect on price developments: in its absence, inflation in 2016 would have been much slower.