The Room for Growth -The project on measures to boost economic growth

Goals and results

The Prime Minister’s Office has launched a project to find new ways to boost economic growth. The aim is to produce concrete proposals for growth in the private business sector for the Government to decide on in its mid-term policy review.

In addition to reforms requiring extensive preparation, the project is looking for quicker measures and smaller, micro-level solutions. Another goal of the project is to serve as a catalyst for discussions on economic growth and to create a positive atmosphere of trust in the opportunities the Finnish economy has to offer. The project is looking for solutions related to regulation, state assets, organisational structures, operating methods, taxation, budget appropriations and other areas where the state can exercise control. Given the limited fiscal room for manoeuvre, priority should be given to measures that will not require direct increases in public spending or that can be implemented cost-neutrally.

The expert group leading the project will gather proposals for boosting growth from a variety of actors in society, and will draw on studies and reports produced in recent years. The group may also come up with entirely new ideas. The preparations will make use of a variety of discussion forums, such as the Economic Council chaired by the Prime Minister. The expert group will outline the preparation process for compiling and evaluating the proposals in more detail at a later date. The group is set to complete its final report by 28 February 2025.

Starting points

The Finnish economy is suffering from chronically slow growth. Economic growth has been very slow on average since the financial crisis, and Finland’s relative standard of living has declined in relation to traditional reference countries as well as the EU average. From 2008 to 2023, Finland’s gross domestic product grew by just five per cent. Despite the cyclical recovery of the economy, forecasts for economic growth in the next few years are fairly subdued.

Slow economic growth is one of the main reasons for the problems facing general government finances. The Government has decided on substantial adjustment measures to reverse the growth of the general government debt ratio by the end of its term. However, the foreseeable rise in age-related expenditure means that faster than anticipated economic growth will be needed to finance the welfare society in the future. Without economic growth, Finland will have no choice but to continue its significant adjustment measures in the coming years.

Additional information

• Press release government communications department on 26 September 2024
• Press release government communications department on 28 October 2024
• Room for Growth online survey
• Press release govenment communications department on 15th November 2024 Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s Room for Growth project to host discussion event on 19 November