Nevertheless, in pursuit of the sustainable economic convergence required under the Maastricht treaty, the Finnish Government produced their first Convergence Programme in 1995 and an updated version in 1996. Political commitment to EMU in the five-party ruling coalition is high. The Government's stated aim is to ensure that Finland meets all the EMU criteria and will be able to join the single currency in the first wave. The business community in Finland is also strongly supportive of early EMU membership. Polls recently conducted by the Confederation of Industry Employers and the Central Chamber of Commerce indicate that 84 percent of Finnish companies want to join EMU's first wave while only 2 percent oppose EMU membership in principle.
Public attitudes are more ambivalent.
A poll conducted by the Taloustutkimus Oy Institute on 3 April 1997 found that 46 percent of respondents opposed Finnish participation in EMU with just 36 percent in favour. Based upon this set of official and public attitudes it looks as though Finland will meet the criteria and that the parliament will approve membership. This is also the expressed view of Finnish Central Bank member, Sirka Hamalainen and it is also the expectation of the markets. A Reuters poll of Finnish foreign exchange dealers on 3 March 1997 found that 97 percent of respondents believed that Finland would join EMU on 1 January 1999. As a result, the economic management policies of future Finnish Government's will have to be very responsive to economic developments elsewhere within the Union.