Tough regimen helps cure Finland's economic ills

Helsinki

FINLAND'S economic stewards, used to presenting bad news, are getting positively giddy.

The self-described sick man of Europe is now showing signs of real progress after years of tough budget cuts and tax increases. That may allow the country to avoid further austerity, its finance minister, Petteri Orpo, said in an interview in Helsinki on Thursday.

"We have left recession clearly behind us," Mr Orpo said. "We've had a predictable economic policy and that's starting to bring results."

Those results will likely mean a still modest expansion of 1.6 per cent this year, accelerating from 1.4 per cent last year, according to the Bank of Finland. But the economy is gaining a broader growth base, helped by a recovery in exports and a surprising revival in consumer confidence even as unemployment hovers at about 9 per c…