The majority of parliamentarians voted into the Finnish legislature on Sunday are more inclined to cut public services than increase borrowing to fund them. That's according to the responses the newly-elected legislators provided in Yle's election compass ahead of the vote.
Four-out-of-five, or 80 percent, of all candidates in the compass reported not supporting additional state borrowing to secure the current levels of public services.
That said, new National Coalition and Finns Party representatives were the most strongly opposed to increasing state debt.
Polarised parties
Ten out of eleven newly-elected Left Alliance MPs meanwhile said they weren't prepared to downgrade public services, even if that meant more central government debt. Around a fifth of new legislators, particularly those on the left of the political spectrum, held this view.
With state borrowing levels emerging as a theme in this election, 70 percent of new MPs said they would rather cut spending than raise taxes to balance the budget.
The two biggest parties in the new parliament, the conservative National Coalition and the nationalist Finns Party, generally take a critical view of tax hikes.
Public economics professor Jukka Pirttilä told Yle that Finland's economic policies are about to change course, noting that Sanna Marin's government faced a series of crises that triggered borrowing.
"Financial policies are tightening now," he said.
Jouko Vilmunen, another economic expert, also said he anticipates a new direction.
"The new government's goals will significantly differ from those of the previous administration," he explained, adding that economic policies will focus on measures to balance state finances, particularly if the new cabinet is headed by the NCP and FP.
While the targets of forthcoming spending cuts remain unclear, Pirttilä said it's fair to assume some form of belt tightening will happen.
"It's not looking rosy from a citizens' perspective," he said.
Vilmunen suggested that the incoming government parties would eventually pay a high price for any cuts to state spending.
"Generally it's not a good thing for governments when they embark on fiscal austerity. This is because the benefits of cuts and savings don't tend to be apparent in the same electoral term they were applied."
This week, Yle News released an election coverage special edition of the All Points North podcast. You can listen on this embedded player, on Yle Areena or via Spotify.
