As the second week of government formation negotiations continued, PM-elect Petteri Orpo (NCP) said on Tuesday that he thinks Finland's economic situation is worse than he initially thought.
Orpo told reporters that there was no economic growth potential in sight that would cover the major costs of caring for the country's ageing population, while also relieving the pressures of growing state debt.
Orpo said that public debt is getting worse and that if nothing is done to fix it, the state will owe more than 100 percent of the country's GDP by the 2030s.
"If it continues like this, then we can say goodbye to the welfare state," he told reporters on Tuesday following government formation talks in Helsinki with the Finns Party, Swedish People's Party and the Christian Democrats.
He made the comments a press conference at Helsinki's House of the Estates on Tuesday afternoon.
Alongside Orpo, Finns Party chair Riikka Purra told journalists that consensus has not been reached between the parties.
She said they are aiming to increase jobs and boost employment as well as create incentives for unemployed people to take on jobs.
According to Purra, Finland cannot be a "staycation society."
Swedish People's Party chair Anna-Maja Henriksson concurred with Orpo that the economic situation is demanding, emphasising that state debt needs reducing and employment needs boosting.
Christian Democrat chair Sari Essayah said her party is also concerned about Finland's economic situation.
"It is quite clear that there is still a chance to reverse the course," she said, adding that targeted taxes was a way of doing so.
However Essayah noted that work- and entrepreneur-related taxation should not be increased.
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