Statistics Finland's consumer confidence indicator plummeted to +0.4 points in December from +1.5 points the month before and +13.5 points in the year-ago period, the government agency said in a statement Tuesday.

The long-term average of the indicator is +13 points.

The figures are based on a survey with about 1,400 respondents carried out in the first half of December.

The Confederation of Industries said in a separate statement that its manfacturing confidence indicator stood at -10 points, unchanged from November but down from +7 points in the year-ago period. The long-term average of the indicator is +3 points.

STT

Europe’s difficulties run much deeper than fiscal irresponsibility.

ONE of the main creators of the euro has admitted that it was flawed from the start. Jacques Delors, in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, says that the common European currency suffered from a lack of oversight and common economic policies.

The Baltic Sea Action Group is not a typical NGO. It will accept money, but it is more interested in actions and expertise.

FINNS are often justifiably proud of their environmental record, yet right off our coast is one of the most polluted seas in the world.

“The area of the dead sea bottom is now about the size of Denmark,” says Mathias Bergman, Secretary General of the Baltic Sea Action Group (BSAG). “If we had such a dead, smelly, poisonous sludge anywhere on land we would have started a revolution long ago.”

Due to the debt crisis currently raging in Europe and the US, it is starting to seem doubtful whether Western countries will be able to maintain constant economic growth. Thus, this could be a favourable time for the Degrowth movement and its supporters, who believe that strong ecological sustainability requires intervening in economic growth.

Finnish utility Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) said in a short statement Wednesday that French nuclear group Areva had announced yet another delay
in the construction of Olkiluoto 3, a power station in Eurajoki in western Finland.

TVO said Areva now expected to have the station up and running in August 2014 instead of late 2013.

Areva had originally promised to finish the station by 2009.

STT

BOTH the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Finland have issued a gloomy prediction for the Finnish economy. In separate statements, the two institutions announced that they expect growth to be at an insipid 0.4 per cent next year.

“The forecast is based on the assumption that the euro area debt crisis will not get any worse and the slowdown in growth in both the euro area and the global economy will be relatively short-lived,” said Bank Governor Erkki Liikanen. “The assumption contains a clear downside risk for the forecast.”

Onnibus said in a statement Monday it would launch Finland's first no-frills coach service in January.

The company's first route will be Pori-Tampere, with single fares starting from three euros. The distance between the two cities is about 115 kilometres, or about 71 miles.

Pekka Möttö, the managing director of Onnibus, said the company would launch further routes as they were opened to competition.