HELSINKI: The Bank of Finland said Thursday it expects the Finnish economy to grow by 3.9 percent and reach pre-recession levels this year.
"Gross domestic product will grow 3.9 percent in 2011, 2.7 percent in 2012 and 2.5 percent in 2013," the bank said in a statement.
The bank pointed to improving employment figures and a positive fiscal outlook from both consumers and businesses.
Industrial orders are still behind pre-recession levels, however, even though the number of orders increased markedly in 2010.
"The positive growth figures reflect the economy's rise from the depths of recession," said Bank of Finland Governor Erkki Liikanen.
He noted, however, that "restructuring accelerated by the recession will weaken the longer-term prospects for growth."
The bank also predicted that inflation will accelerate to around 3.0 percent this year, pressured by the rising cost of fuel and food, but this will slow down to around two percent in the following years.
All in all, the Bank of Finland's forecast for Finland is much more optimistic than figures released a day earlier by the finance ministry.
On Wednesday, the finance ministry predicted growth this year of 3.6 percent, which was an upward revision of its December forecast of just 2.9 percent.
The government pegged growth at 2.7 percent for 2012 and 2.4 percent for 2013.
Finland's export-reliant economy exited recession at the beginning of this year and the economy has been slowly but steadily improving.
In 2009, the economy shrank by 8.2 percent, as demand for its exports slumped in the fallout from the global financial crisis.
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