It is a key objective of the Bank of Finland’s strategy as a central bank to build a sustainable economy and promote stability. For us to be a credible actor in pursuit of this objective requires us to exhibit continuous and determined economic governance and HR planning.

The Bank of Finland monitors its operating expenses and related objectives closely.

The intention is to achieve the Bank’s targets for efficiency and sustainability.

The Board evaluates implementation of the objectives on a quarterly basis.

Bank of Finland

In 2021, the Bank of Finland’s operating expenses totalled EUR 96.3 million (2020: EUR 94.5 million). Income totalled EUR 17.1 million and was derived from, for example, royalties, rents and various fees.

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, staff-related expenses, in particular, fell, since there were very few business trips or stakeholder events.

Rents from real estate and income from other than investments in the reserve fund bring down the net difference between operating expenses and income. The sale of the former Oulu regional office was completed in September.

The Bank of Finland also has other major sources of income which do not have the effect of decreasing operating expenses in the budget and are therefore not included in the tables here.

The Bank’s net operating expenses totalled EUR 79.2 million. For a more detailed breakdown of the outturn for 2021 and the budget for 2022, see Table 1.

Investment expenditure totalled EUR 10.0 million (Table 2).

In autumn 2021, the Bank’s budgets for the period 2022–2024 were drawn up. Of these, the Board ratified that for 2022.

The Bank has focused increased attention on the medium-term planning of investment. Investments are evaluated based on their costs, qualitative benefits and operative risks.

Pension fund

The pension fund’s operating expenses for 2021 totalled EUR 30.8 million (2020: EUR 31.1 million). Pensions paid constituted the largest cost item, amounting to EUR 28.6 million. Operating income (employment pension contributions and income from rent) amounted to EUR 14.9 million during the year.

The pension fund also received an additional contribution of EUR 10.0 million from the Bank, which was used to cover some of the pension fund deficit for the accounting period.

For a more detailed breakdown of the outturn for 2021 and the budget for 2022, see Table 3.

The pension fund’s operations are published in its own annual report.

Financial Supervisory Authority

The Board of the Bank of Finland ratifies the budget for the Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA) each year.

The Authority’s operating expenses for 2021 totalled EUR 39.7 million (2020: EUR 37.1 million). Total income amounted to EUR 42.0 million, of which supervision and processing fees accounted for EUR 38.2 million, while the Bank of Finland’s contribution to funding was EUR 2.0 million.

The figure for income includes a surplus of EUR 1.9 million from the previous accounting period. The surplus for the financial year was EUR 2.4 million. The surplus will be taken into account in the following accounting period when setting the supervisory and processing fees. Investment expenditure totalled EUR 0.8 million.

For a more detailed breakdown of the outturn for 2021 and the budget for 2022, see Table 4.

The Financial Supervisory Authority’s operations are presented in the authority’s own annual report.

Table 1.
Bank of Finland Outturn
2021
EUR m		 Budgeted
2022
EUR m
1. Operating expenses and income
EXPENSES
Staff expenses -36.7 -38.3
Staff-related expenses -0.8 -3.7
Other expenses -28.5 -34.0
Banking service expenses -9.4 -8.7
Depreciation -8.1 -9.2
Total -83.5 -93.8
Banknote acquisition costs -4.5 -7.6
Pension fund contribution -8.3 -8.3
Total operating expenses -96.3 -109.7
INCOME
Banking service income 3.5 3.8
Real estate 5.3 5.2
Other income 1.7 0.2
Services to FIN-FSA 6.5 7.0
Total income 17.1 16.2
Net -79.2 -93.5
Due to rounding, the totals do not necessarily tally.
Table 2.
Bank of Finland Outturn
2021
EUR m		 Budgeted
2022
EUR m
Investment
Real estate investment 4.7 5.6
Head office premises 1.5 1.5
Vantaa premises 2.8 3.5
Other premises 0.4 0.6
IT-equipment and software 4.5 7.2
Cash handling machines 0.0 0.0
Security equipment 0.9 1.0
Other 0.0 0.0
Total investment 10.0 13.8
Due to rounding, the totals do not necessarily tally.
Table 3.
Pension fund Outturn
2021
EUR m		 Budgeted
2022
EUR m
1. Operating expenses and income
EXPENSES
Staff expenses 0.0 0.0
Expenses for pension fund activities -0.6 -0.3
Pension fund real estate expenses -0.5 -0.6
Depreciation -0.9 -1.0
Pensions paid -28.6 -29.3
Total expenses -30.8 -31.1
INCOME
Employment pension contributions 13.2 14.1
Internal rents 1.7 1.7
Pension fund contribution 10.0 10.0
Total income 24.9 25.8
Net -5.9 -5.3
Due to rounding, the totals do not necessarily tally.
Table 4.
Financial Supervisory Authority Outturn
2021
EUR m		 Budgeted
2022
EUR m
1. Operating expenses and income
EXPENSES
Staff expenses -24.4 -25.7
Staff-related expenses -0.2 -1.2
Other expenses -5.9 -6.6
Depreciation -0.9 -0.8
Services from the Bank of Finland -6.5 -7.0
Pension fund contribution -1.7 -1.7
Total operating expenses -39.7 -43.0
FUNDING OF OPERATIONS
Supervision fees 35.6 36.5
Processing fees 2.6 1.8
Bank of Finland contribution to funding 2.0 2.1
Surplus/deficit transferred from previous year 1.9 2.5
Total income 42.0 43.0
Surplus transferred to next year -2.4
Due to rounding, the totals do not necessarily tally.
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