The reference rate under section 12 of the Interest Rates Act (633/1982) for the period 1 January – 30 June 2023 is 2.5%. The penalty interest rate for the same period is 9.5% pa (under section 4 of the Act, the reference rate plus seven percentage points). The penalty interest rate applicable to commercial contracts is 10.5% pa (under section 4 a of the Act, the reference rate plus eight percentage points).
The reference rate used in defining the penalty rate is determined in accordance with section 12 of the Interest Rates Act. Accordingly, the reference rate is the interest rate that was applied by the European Central Bank to the last main refinancing operation prior to the first calendar day of the half-year in question and rounded up to the nearest one-half percentage point. Such reference rate is effective for the following six-month period.