Industries, consumers optimistic about economic recovery

Business outlook is improving in all the main sectors while industries and consumers are optimistic about Finnish economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) and Statistics Finland, reported Xinhua.

A business tendency survey conducted by EK in April indicated that Finnish companies presume the economy to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic in the next few months and expectations for an upward business cycle continue increasing. However, the differences between various sectors remain large, according to a press release issued by EK on Tuesday.

Sectors including forestry, technology, information and communication services are going strong, while tourism and catering are still struggling, said Sami Pakarinen, Chief Economic Policy Adviser at EK, in the press release.

"The Finnish economy will continue to pick up as we approach the summer. Vaccinations and the lifting of restrictions will help the service sector, which is still quite weak in many respects. The outlook is improving in all the main sectors. The outlook in construction, which has remained in a low cycle, is also clearly improving," he said.

Meanwhile, the consumer confidence indicator (CCI) maintained by Statistics Finland also showed a strong increase.

The CCI in April was at 3.8, up from -3.0 in March and -0.8 in February. In April last year, the CCI was at -13.9, according to a press release issued by the statistical authority on Tuesday.

However, problems with the availability of labor emerged again in Finnish industries, said EK.

"The availability of skilled labor was a big problem even before the coronavirus pandemic, and it will be exacerbated when growth resumes," said Jyri Hakamies, Director General of EK.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said Tuesday the grounds for the use of emergency power in Finland, caused by the pandemic, no longer exist, and the decree to terminate the state of emergency was given on Tuesday afternoon.