The Bank of Finland has announced Finland's economic growth projections for the next three years. In 2017, the bank says the economy will grow by 2.1 percent and by 1.7 percent in 2018. The following year, 2019, will see growth of 1.4 percent, according to the bank.
The bank says that the figures translate to GDP similar to economic activity before the global economic crisis of 2008. The Bank of Finland's prognosis has added to an increasing number of financial institutions' brighter outlooks.
Finland's largest financial services firm OP Financial Group upgraded its forecast by half a percentage point to 2.3 percent in May. The retailing cooperative S-Group's bank S-Pankki made a similar outlook update.
Last week Danske Bank revised its forecast to 2.8 percent, but the most optimistic forecast arrived on Monday from Nordea Bank, which said it expects Finland's economy to grow by a full three percent this year. Nordea's new outlook was more than double its original projection.
However Finland's Ministry of Finance and the EU Commission are not as optimistic about Finland's economic health. In February the EU - and in April the finance ministry - predicted economic growth of 1.2 percent this year.