The competitiveness of Finnish economy is weakened by several factors: the overall outlook continues to be weak, the recovery is lagging behind the other Nordic countries, exports have remained weak and the previously resilient household sector is at present also showing signs of weaknesses.
However, in spite the discouraging signals, the third quarter issue of Deloitte/SEB CFO Survey Finland projects a notable rise in business confidence among Finnish CFOs. They are more optimistic about their financial prospects than at any time in the past two years. Based on the comparison with CFOs in the United Kingdom, it seems that the economic optimism outside the Eurozone has finally reached Finland.
Additionally, operating cash flows are expected to increase or at least to remain unchanged over the next 12 months. Altogether, CFOs have been able to manage the financial risks on their balance sheets for the past year and a half. Now, the number of CFOs arguing that the financial risks have remained unchanged has increased from 30 per cent to 40 per cent.