World Bank Group President David Malpass will attend the meeting of Nordic and Baltic ministers in Vantaa on 1 June. Matters on the agenda of the meeting will include, for example, climate change, COVID-19 measures and vaccine solidarity.

Finland will begin the first reforms and investments of its Sustainable Growth Programme already this year, but most of the funding will be used in 2022–2023. In its third supplementary budget, the Government proposes investments in research, continuous learning, quicker access to care and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The proposal includes EUR 238 million in funding for the Sustainable Growth Programme.

A report of the Ministry of Finance published on 12 May forecasts a boost in economic growth to 2.6 per cent in 2021 supported by a global stimulus as the coronavirus epidemic eases.

Value-added tax (VAT) on online purchases will, in future, also be payable on consignments valued at EUR 22 or less that are imported from outside the European Union. The Government proposes that the applicable legislative amendments be approved by the President of the Republic for entry into force at the beginning of July.

In its mid-term policy review, the Government outlined extensive measures to strengthen employment and public finances and to promote people’s wellbeing in Finland in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The decisions in the mid-term review include policies to strengthen growth, to continue on the path to carbon neutrality and to reduce inequality. The measures have been integrated into the 2022–2025 General Government Fiscal Plan, on which the Government determined its policy positions in connection with the mid-term policy review. In addition, the Government carried out a mid-term review of its climate measures.