Fitch Ratings has extended Finland’s platinum AAA credit rating. The agency said on Friday morning the decision was based on solid governance indicators, political and social institutions and the nation’s track record of prudent fiscal and macroeconomic policy management.
Finland's State Treasury reported that Fitch had “affirmed the best possible AAA rating for Finland’s long-term debt” and that it “considers Finland’s credit rating outlook to be stable”. The agency kept the "stable" outlook on ratings as it does not foresee developments that are likely to bring a change.
Fitch notes that Finland's score on governance indicators outperforms even that of other AAA-rated states. Within the EU, these are only Germany and Luxembourg.
No major impact from Russian sanctions
Fitch predicts that Finland’s economy will grow by 6-tenths of a percent this year, after a decline of 1.4 percent last year. According to the agency’s prognosis, the general government deficit will remain steady at 2.7 percent.
Fitch does not expect sanctions against Russia to have a significant impact on the Finnish economy.
Fitch notes that the Finnish economy is still adapting to structural changes in the electronics and paper industries. And it points out that the country is beginning to feel the effects of the ageing population as working-age people’s share of the total population went down for the third year in a row.