Report by Borg and Vartiainen: More competitiveness, labour force and productivity

Anders Borg and Juhana Vartiainen believe that Finland will defeat its economic difficulties by restoring competitiveness, increasing the supply of labour and improving labour productivity. According to Borg and Vartiainen, growth of labour costs in Finland should take many more years than in competitor countries. It is also necessary to free work-related immigration, terminate the "unemployment pathway to retirement" of those born after 1965 and improve entrepreneurial atmosphere in Finland.

The writers of the report say that social partners need to develop the culture and institutions of local wage negotiations carried out within the framework of collective agreements. The current job alternation system should also be terminated and the resources freed up reallocated to the improvement of older people's mobility in the labour market.

The report is based on an analysis ordered in October 2014 from Anders Borg, former Swedish Minister of Finance, of the state of Finland's economy containing proposals on objectives and measures for outlining our economic policy during the next term of government. Juhana Vartiainen, Director General of VATT Institute for Economic Research, was asked by Borg to co-write the report. The report was submitted to Prime Minister Alexander Stubb on Wednesday 11 March.

Prime Minister Stubb considers it necessary to implement the measures suggested.

"We cannot escape from the weak outlook of our public economy.  Bold structural reforms must continue, precisely as Borg and Vartiainen suggest. The proposals of the report must be taken seriously, especially for the purpose of improving employment", Prime Minister Stubb says.

Report by Borg and Vartiainen (in Finnish)

Inquiries: Maarit Kaltio, Special Adviser, tel. +358 44 582 8217 and Pekka Sinko, General Secretary of the Economic Council, tel. +358 295 160 189, Prime Minister’s Office