PM Vanhanen: Tax reduction to be continued during next electoral term

Matti Vanhanen

Jouko Ahonen

Lauri Ihalainen

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In Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen's (Centre) view, tax reductions should be continued also during the next electoral term, with slight shifts in the focusing on possible cuts. Vanhanen stated in his May Day speeches in Hyvinkää and Helsinki that the level of tax cuts should be determined on the basis of the economic conditions and the prospects of the Finnish economy.
      The Prime Minister strongly defended the current government's policies which, in his view, have improved employment and increased tax revenues. He said that it is an erroneous assumption that tax cuts would lead to savings in public services. He believes that the situation is just the opposite.
     
PM Vanhanen also discussed structural changes that have contributed to loss of jobs in a number of large companies. However, as long as employment growth remains at its present level, there is no real cause for alarm, he noted. According to Vanhanen, some 200 new jobs have been created in Finland on a daily basis in the course of the past 12 months.
     
The President of the Finnish Paperworkers' Union, Jouko Ahonen, observed in his May Day speech in Kotka that the lay-offs and dismissals of staff of profitable companies are bound to feed increasing radicalism in society. He also accused the Prime Minister and the Centre Party of being too weak in responding to the issue. In recent months, much attention has been paid to large dismissals, for example at the UPM mill in Voikkaa in south-eastern Finland
     
The Chairman of the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, Lauri Ihalainen, delivering May Day speeches in Hyvinkää and Riihimäki, demanded that a so-called national preparedness plan should be created as soon as possible to ensure that dismissed employees would not remain unemployed and end up being marginalised.


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