HELSINKI: Finance Minister Alexander Stubb, Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and Minister of Foreign Affairs Timo Soini at a press conference in Helsinki on Monday.Photo – Lehtikuva.
Prime Minister Juha Sipilä on Monday presented the government’s plans to tackle the estimated sustainability gap of about euro 10 billion in the coming years, said an official press release. The announcement came after the failure to reach to a social agreement with the labour market organisations on August 20.
According to the Prime Minister, bridging the sustainability gap of 10 billion euros requires savings of four billion and structural reforms amounting to about four billion. The rest of the gap should be covered through better competitiveness, achieved by renewing the working life, moderate wage demands and measures to increase productivity.
Sipilä maintains that the social contract would have been greatly needed in search for economic growth. Now that the negotiations on the contract failed, the government must find other ways to proceed. “Getting economic growth started is the first priority. The better we succeed in renewing the working life, moderate wage demands and higher efficiency, the less additional cuts in government expenditure and tax increases will be needed,” said the Prime Minister.
