Recovery from the economic crisis remains fragile and uneven. Particularly in developed economies, the public fiscal position has weakened. The Bank of Finland's Annual Report describes the Bank's activities under the difficult conditions posed by the economic crisis.
As part of the process of halting some of the European Union member countries' debt crises, the Eurosystem ensured continuation of the liquidity of the banking system and took measures to reduce disruptions from the bond markets. The Annual Report details the role played by the Bank of Finland, as part of the Eurosystem, in bringing about these exceptional monetary policy measures and how the financial crisis has influenced investment activity focus.
With the financial crisis comes an increased need to pay attention to operating risk. The Bank of Finland prepared for such contingencies by revising its financial risk management and monitoring the Bank's balance sheet. The Bank of Finland's balance sheet risk buffers and equity are sufficient to cover known risks.
The Annual Report states that despite the recession, Finland's financial system has functioned well and banks' loan losses are estimated as remaining low, bearing in mind the depth of the recession. The Bank of Finland plays a significant cooperative role in international regulatory and supervisory matters.
During 2010 the Bank of Finland has brought about a thorough reorganisation of its research function. The visiting researcher programme will be replaced by fixed term researcher-economist positions. In addition, resources are to be focused on research of the interaction and stability of financial market and the macroeconomy.
The Bank of Finland's results for 2010 came in at EUR 283 million. The results weaker results over the previous year's which were EUR 420 million can mainly be explained by the setting aside of a general provision of EUR 100 million. The Bank's financial statement is published as part of the Annual Report. The Bank of Finland's Annual Report 2010 is available on the Bank's website www.suomenpankki.fi in Finnish and Swedish, and the English language version will be published on 8 April 2011.
For further details, please contact:
Mika Pöso, Head of Communications, tel. 010 831 2632
Mika Pöso, Head of Communications, tel. 010 831 2632