Finland Record Trade Surplus Boosted By Shipsales

Finland posted a record monthly trade surplus for October, boosted by a major deal by one of its shipyards and accelerating economic recovery. The customs board's preliminary data for October showed a trade surplus of a record $1.4 billion, with exports up 14 percent year-on-year at $4.1 billion and imports up six percent at $2.7 billion. October saw the departure from Finland of Voyager of the Seas, the world's largest cruiser ship. It was built by Kvaerner's Masa-Yards for Royal Caribbean. Economists said that despite this one-off item, the data added to evidence from figures in the past few months indicating that the economy was back on track, after being hit by the Russian crisis and a global economic slowdown last autumn.