Tabloids Ilta-Sanomat borrows its sources government talks on next year’s state budget framework, saying progress has been made, but also on Wednesday’s late Thursday Annika Saarikko described the progress "mouse steps".
At the same time, Helsinki every day Helsingin Sanomat writes that, in addition to the budget itself, these negotiations can determine whether or not the current coalition government will remain in office.
This article argues that disagreements, especially between the Center Party and its left-wing partners, are so great that they could lead to the collapse of the government. It writes that the compromise proposal put forward by the Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) did not agree with the center.
Measures to raise the employment rate remain at the heart of the controversy.
The finance minister left the talks late Thursday night Matti Vanhanen (Cen) told HS that while progress has been made, there are also fundamental, genuinely difficult differences.
According to Vanhanen, they are still being resolved "expenditure levels, employment, continued emissions trading compensation, peat and which taxes will eventually be outlined."
Crisis or not?
In a related article, Political correspondent for Iltalehti Lauri Nurmi rejected speculation that the government might have come to an end.
"The Marin government is no longer a union of love," writes Nurmi, but he points to two factors that still bind the ruling coalition together.
The first is that the center party must be in government. Without government power, the center would have no opportunity to influence the daily lives of voters. Nurmi describes the party’s chairman Annika Saarikko and the Minister of Defense Antti Kaikkonen (Cen) two of the greatest political abilities of his generation. They want to impress and not sit in the back room.
Both Marin and Saarikko know that a real government crisis would tarnish their careers. It would allow many middle-aged male politicians to rude, "What did we say? The women could not bear the ball," writes Lauri Nurmi.
"Even if the united government were likely to step out of the event on Friday, the faces of many cabinet ministers and special assistants would see small wrinkles in the spring sun that were not seen there a year ago," Nurmi predicts Friday in Iltalehti.
Economic recovery
Several leading economists say Helsingin sanomat newspaper that Finland can expect strong economic growth this summer at the latest.
By Markla Lehmus, Forecast Manager at ETLA’s Economic Research Institute, the economic upswing may begin in mid-summer.
"Although full vaccination coverage is not yet available at that time, there are enough people vaccinated to get the economy moving," Lehmus said.
Elina PylkkänenThe director of the Department of Economic Research said he thought the Ministry of Finance’s growth forecast was far too low. His institute forecasts 2.5 percent growth this year and 3.1 percent growth next year and says it’s likely to be even higher.
Both Lehmus and Pylkkänen attach high growth expectations to two factors in particular.
The first is recovery in the service sectors most affected by the pandemic. It is assumed that when vaccine coverage reaches a sufficient level, people will start consuming services again at the same level as before.
Another reason is the rate of household savings during a coronavirus epidemic. It is now likely that the higher-than-usual savings accumulated over the past year will soon begin to return to the economy.
Russia-Ukraine is concerned
Daily survey by the Farmers’ Union Future of the countryside suggests that one in four Finns believes that the Russia-Ukraine crisis will develop into a full-scale war and that half believe that the situation will weaken Finland’s own security position.
Rural and middle-aged men are more likely than other respondents to assess the threat of war. One in three supporters of the Finnish Party and the Central Party believes that a great war will break out between Russia and Ukraine. More than a fifth of supporters of other parties agree.
Half of the respondents believe that the crisis in eastern Ukraine is already weakening Finland’s security situation. Men are clearly more concerned than women about the impact of the situation in Ukraine on Finland’s security. One third of the respondents do not consider the events in Ukraine to be a threat to Finland’s security.
The MT survey was conducted by Kantar TNS Agri. April 16-21 and contained 1,054 responses.
Mobile testing
Local Helsinki daily Helsinki News reports that the city of Helsinki has started a mobile coronavirus testing service this week, which uses vehicles stopping in Kannelmäki, Malmi, Kontula, Itäkeskus and Vuosaari.
The tests are free and available without an appointment or submission. All you need is a valid ID.
A negative corona test certificate will not be submitted, but the test results will be transferred to a personal database where they can be used and printed.
Complete information on testing and an English-language mobile service can be found in the city coronavirus update page.
Source: The Nordic Page