HELSINKI: European Union Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn said Thursday that the bloc's recovery was on track, but still vulnerable to disruptions.
"Concerning the European economy, there is a certain dualism in a sense that the recovery of the real economy has taken hold and is progressing," he told reporters in Helsinki.
"On the other hand there is still turbulence in the financial markets," he said, adding Europe needed to contain the turbulence from disrupting economic growth, to lift productivity and above all, raise employment levels.
Rehn was along with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General Jose Angel Gurria and Finnish Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi participating at an Economic Council of Finland meeting Thursday.
Guerria praised Finland for being ahead of the curve as far as getting its deficit under control and building sustainable economic growth.
"We believe Finland is one of the few countries that will soon be able to go to a surplus which will allow it to reduce its debt ... over time," Gurria told the news conference.
He said the OECD expected Finland's deficit would be less than two percent this year and perhaps less than one percent next year, adding that Finland's unemployment levels of 7.9 percent were much better than the OECD average.
Kiviniemi said the Economic Council had consulted Gurria and Rehn regarding Finland's long-term challenges for sustainable economic growth, but added that the issues would largely be in the hands of the next government after parliamentary elections in April.
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