HELSINKI: Finland's finance ministry is set to cut its forecast for the country's gross domestic product in 2013, urging the government to prepare more budget cuts at its meeting this week, public broadcaster YLE said citing unnamed sources.
The ministry forecast Finnish GDP to grow 0.4 percent, a notch weaker than its previous forecast from December which pointed at 0.5 percent growth. Unemployment is seen rising this year to 8.2 percent, compared to the earlier estimate of 8.1 percent, YLE said on Tuesday.
The Nordic country's six-party government is due to announce new spending cuts and tax hikes on Thursday as it looks to curb debt growth, but ministers have said the cabinet also plans new measures to boost growth.
Finland was previously seen as one of the strongest economies in the euro bloc thanks to prudent fiscal policies and earlier banking reforms, but the region's debt crisis has hit its exports.
<Center><b><i>Copyright Reuters, 2013</b></i><br></center>
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