Assessment of public finances 2018 : Now is an opportune time to strengthen fiscal buffers

Economic growth has supported the efforts to improve Finland’s general government finances in recent years. However, changes in the composition of public revenue and expenditure are hampering the achievement of a balanced budget position. In the medium term, reaching the fiscal policy objectives will not become easier. Growth in agerelated expenditure will make rebalancing of the public finances more difficult, and the fiscal sustainability gap is still considerable.