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Finnish Lawmaker: Unreasonable to Blame Finnish Economic Struggles on Euro

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Finland’s economic troubles do not stem from its membership of the Eurozone, but rather underscore the need for structural reforms, a member of the Finnish parliament from the National Coalition Party told Sputnik on Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Daria Chernyshova – In the coming weeks, the Finnish parliament is expected to debate a possible referendum on the country’s membership of the 19-nation monetary union, after Finland’s economy grew only 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015. The move comes after a petition demanding a "Fixit," or Finnish exit from the Eurozone, gathered over 50,000 signatures. According to the initiator of the referendum, Finnish veteran politician Paavo Vayrynen, Finland has suffered from its membership of the Eurozone and the sluggish growth the country shows now is the result of it.

"No. The primary causes of the problems that Finland currently struggles with are structural," Timo Heinonen said when asked if the euro is to blame for the problems faced by the Finnish economy.

Finland’s GDP increased by 0.4 percent in 2015, following several consecutive years of recession.

"Lack of flexibility in the labour market, high tax burden and excessive business regulation are much more important factors than the membership in the monetary union," Heinonen said, adding that the chances of Finland walking out of the monetary union were extremely low.

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Finland joined the euro area in 1999, and formally adopted the common currency in 2002.

Finland has recently experienced several economic shocks, such as the collapse of its hi-tech giant Nokia and declining demand for paper in Europe, the main market of the country's paper industry.

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