Business & Finance

Bank of Finland cuts GDP outlook for 2013

Published June 14, 2012 Updated June 14, 2012 07:02am

The central bank lowered its gross domestic product (GDP) growth outlook for 2013 to 1.2 from a previous 1.8 percent, although it raised its forecast for the current year to 1.5 percent from 0.4 percent as domestic demand was firmer than expected.

For 2014 it forecast GDP growth of 1.6 percent.

"It is, however, difficult to predict the future course of the debt crisis, and there is thus a great deal of uncertainty regarding Finland's external environment," Bank of Finland Governor Erkki Liikanen, also a member of the European Central Bank's Governing Council, said in a statement.

"The downside risks to the forecast are, therefore, substantial."

Copyright Reuters, 2012