​Finnish economy to grow 2.9 percent in 2017: think tank

The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA) upgraded on Tuesday the Finnish economic growth outlook in 2017 to 2.9 percent.

The forecast made by ETLA in March this year was only 1.7 percent, said the institute. The upgrade prognosis was based on several international and domestic factors.

Finland's GDP grows against a background of the positive trend of the global economy and growth in the euro area, noted the institute. It said the global economy is experiencing an upswing, and the growth in the euro zone has picked up.

Domestically, the Finnish economy grew faster than expected in the first half of this year by 3.1 percent. Meanwhile, total exports increased by nearly 10 percent.
Bolstered by low inflation, private consumption in Finland rose by 2 percent year on year. The employment was slight improved, and investment experienced a sharp rise between January and June this year.

ETLA predicted that the Finnish economy will grow moderately by 2.0 percent in 2018 and 1.8 percent in 2019, as export growth will slow down due to the decrease of ship deliveries, investment growth will drop dramatically when major projects are finished, and the increase of private consumption will be lower then this year.

Later on Tuesday, the Finnish Ministry of Finance published its economic survey, in which the projection of the Finnish economic growth pace was made almost the same as ETLA's forecast -- 2.9 percent in 2017, 2.1 percent in 2018 and 1.8 percent in 2019.