Harkimo’s harsh criticism of the government – “You wait half a year for Murto to sit and eat comb wieners” –

According to Liike Nyt’s chairman Harry Harkimo, the government mixes growth measures with labor market measures. Mikko Huisko

Chairman of Liike Nyt Harry Harkimon according to the government’s speeches, growth measures that create growth and labor market measures are mixed. Harkimo criticized along with the rest of the opposition Petteri Orpon (kok) government about weak growth measures during Thursday’s parliamentary question hour.

According to Harkimo, in times of economic growth, labor market measures help in economic growth and, for example, local agreements help when the economy is growing.

– But you can’t make the economy grow, even if you have 600 of those measures, nothing will happen. And this is not my opinion, but all the figures show that there is no similar measure that has increased the economy this year. Now you’re waiting half a year for Murto to sit down and eat combed wieners and come up with economic growth, Harkimo said.

Harkimo referred to Prime Minister Orpo’s statement that there are 500 different growth measures in the government’s program and another growth package was made during the framework crisis. At the end of September, Orpo appointed the CEO of pension company Varma Risto Murron to lead a working group that prepares growth measures for the government’s mid-term budget, i.e. it is the government’s third growth package. The midterms are next spring.

Harkimo took Sweden, for example, where taxes were reduced by 2–3 billion euros as growth measures and the household deduction was increased. Many representatives of the opposition wondered why the government is cutting the household deduction, which would bring jobs and services to people.

The situation in Germany affects exports

Minister of Economic Affairs Will Rydman (ps) replied.

– This was a very confusing speech from a member of parliament with an entrepreneurial background, because growth is made specifically in those companies. The government does not create growth, but the government can support the growth of companies through its own actions.

According to Rydman, the government’s measures to support businesses are labor market reforms, which make it easier, for example, to negotiate locally and reduce the entrepreneur’s risk of hiring the first employee.

According to Rydman, these reforms have been carried out specifically in Sweden and they are growth measures.

– Representative Harkimo, you should be able to distinguish the economic situation from structural reforms. We have a very difficult economy. The fact that the economy is not growing in Germany is harming our export market, Rydman said.

Receipt from the orphan to the center

Vice-chairman of the centre, chairman of the parliament’s finance committee Markus Lohi asked if it could be that the government’s growth measures are either ineffective or just long-term measures.

Earlier on Thursday, the center organized its own “Growth Day” and Lohi brought greetings from entrepreneurs on how to bring growth to Finland. They were that research and development investments should also be extended to small and medium-sized companies. Secondly, instead of stopping tourism and raising the value added tax, a comprehensive growth program would be made. The third proposal of the entrepreneurs was that study and work-based immigration would be facilitated by introducing the Canadian scoring model.

– What if you had already listened to the entrepreneurs last season, Orpo acknowledged Lohe.

According to Orpo, the government has listened to entrepreneurs and produced a lot of growth proposals for the government program, and more will be done.

– It won’t get better by complaining, but we have to do it now.