The business and economic daily Kauppalehti reports that pensions will be on the firing line in the next round of budget talks when the government headed by PM Petteri Orpo (NCP) looks for emergency spending cuts.
An analysis by the Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA) recommends that the government include pensions in its plans for economic "adjustments" or else its savings targets will not be met.
According to EVA, the government should freeze pensions for the rest of its term in office and then link them to the consumer price index. EVA calculates that the measure would generate more than three billion euros in public economy savings by 2027.
Expenditure on occupational pensions was estimated at 34 billion euros last year. The Ministry of Finance has calculated that by reducing the index increases by one percentage point over four years, expenditure linked to the employment pension index would generate savings of around 800 million euros.
Kauppalehti points out that earned pensions have been viewed as enjoying the constitutional protection of ownership - they are the property of each individual. However, this protection has not been extended to index-linked increases.
Although the total pension pot is large, the average Finnish pension is small. According to the business paper, almost two-thirds of Finns have a pension of less than 2,000 euros a month.
While Kauppalehti sees pensions as "low-hanging fruit" in government savings plans, it also points out that cutting pensions could put a strain on public finances in other ways.
Cutting pensions would send the wrong message. It would reduce incentives to work and also be politically difficult because pensioners are a large and active group of voters, according to the paper.
Strike backlogs
The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) said on Thursday that it will not extend the current wave of political strikes beyond Sunday, when they are scheduled to end.
Maaseudun Tulevaisuus writes that the current four-week strike has caused significant economic damage, particularly to companies in the forestry sector. Alongside increased warehousing costs due to stalled exports, transport costs are also expected to rise.
Export industry groups, including the trade association of forest industry companies, are relieved by the end of the strikes. In 2023, the share of exports in forest industry production varied between 60 percent and 97 percent by product group, so the resumption of exports is good news for the sector.
Stocks which have piled up will start being loaded as soon as the strikes end on Monday.
"The export backlog caused by the long strike is significant and will take several weeks to clear," Juha Mutru, the managing director of the Port Operators' Association, told the paper.
Mutru was unable to provide an estimate of the losses suffered by port operators as a result of the strike, but said they are "significant", although not as large as those suffered by processing industries.
Meanwhile, the Finnish Transport and Logistics Association (Skal) says the strikes have affected more than 50 percent of all of the nation's transport companies.
The end of the strikes will cause a spike in demand in the transport sector, so the impact of the strikes will be felt in the freight business for a long time to come, Maaseudun Tulevaisuus writes.
Real-time police bodycams
Savon Sanomat is among the papers carrying a report that police patrols in Finland are currently field-testing a mobile imaging system, which transmits live video and audio.
The system consists of a smartphone and an external camera that police officers can attach to their uniforms or, for example, hold in their hand.
The new cameras are aimed at improving the operational efficiency of the police and making it easier to create a situational view, as well as to gather investigative evidence.
"By next year at the latest, the system will be available to all police officers involved in surveillance operations and field calls. The exact timetable depends on procurement," explained Chief Inspector Timo Vihervaara of the National Police Board.
According to Vihervaara, the investment will remain under one million euros, largely because the upgrade will make use of smartphones already carried by officers. The necessary software and data transmission technology is already in place.
The technology, which will replace the bodycams currently in use, will provide live video and audio feeds to situation centres. The new cameras can also be controlled remotely.
"Remote control is a big advantage, for example, if the police cannot or do not want to trigger live video surveillance themselves for tactical reasons," Vihervaara told the paper.
Finnish police have been using the same technology for a number of years in patrol cars and with drones.
Even more snow
Yet another snowstorm is moving into southern and central parts of Finland on Friday with the worst expected around the time of the afternoon rush hour.
FMI meteorologist Helena Laakso told Iltalehti that motorists should exercise special caution on the roads.
"You should be aware that snow is coming. Especially if you have already changed to your summer tyres, this weather may be nasty," said Laakso.
The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) has issued a warning for potentially hazardous driving conditions on Friday in southern and central parts of the country. According to the FMI, freezing rain may also fall along with the snow, further reducing visibility.
Warnings have also been issued for the next few days in an area stretching from the central part of the country northwards, but not including Lapland.
According to Laakso, temperatures will be around zero in the south on Friday, with moderately subzero readings in the rest of the country.
Users with an Yle ID can leave comments on our news stories. You can create your Yle ID via this link. Our guidelines on commenting and moderation are explained here.
