Outlooks On Seven Finnish Banks Revised Due To Their Resilience In The COVID-19-Induced Downturn

The Finnish economy and banking sector are performing better than many other European countries' amid the COVID-19-induced downturn. We now project a contained GDP contraction of 3.8% for 2020, followed by a rebound of 2.3% in 2021 and settling about 1.5% thereafter. We believe the Finnish banking sector is well positioned to weather additional pressure from the second wave of the pandemic, the phasing out of support measures, and a likely increase in corporate bankruptcies in 2021. After our review of Finland's banking sector, we now see the economic risk trend for Finland's Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA) as stable, compared with negative previously. Finland has firmly managed both the pandemic and economic stress and provided high social welfare

...- The Finnish economy and banking sector are performing better than many other European countries' amid the COVID-19-induced downturn. We now project a contained GDP contraction of 3.8% for 2020, followed by a rebound of 2.3% in 2021 and settling about 1.5% thereafter. - We believe the Finnish banking sector is well positioned to weather additional pressure from the second wave of the pandemic, the phasing out of support measures, and a likely increase in corporate bankruptcies in 2021. - After our review of Finland's banking sector, we now see the economic risk trend for Finland's Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment (BICRA) as stable, compared with negative previously. - Finland has firmly managed both the pandemic and economic stress and provided high social welfare support to households and corporates, and its society's high digital preparedness allowed its population to swiftly adapt to social distancing measures. - Finnish banks have experienced earnings pressure owing to lower...

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