According to a survey conducted by the Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers (TT), small- and medium-sized industrial enterprises (SMEs) expect their exports to grow towards the end of the year.
Export volumes fell in the third quarter of the year, and Finnish exports have suffered from the weak global economic climate for the past two and a half years. However, this trend should now turn in the fourth quarter of 2003.
The expectations of export growth have also raised the estimates for output developments.
Director Pekka Tsupari from TT commented that the outlook for the fourth quarter is good, but companies are still cautious. Fifteen per cent of the respondents expect the overall economic situation to improve in the near future, but an equal number expect a deterioration.
The orderbooks of SMEs improved more than expected during the third quarter, but the level of orders is still clearly below normal.
