HELSINKI, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Credit rating agency Standard &Poor's keeps the rating for Finland unchanged at AA+, said the agency on Saturday.

The agency noted in its statement that the prospect for Finland is stable. It said it could raise Finland back to triple A if the economic result exceeds expectations.

S&P downgraded Finland from AAA to AA+ in the autumn of 2014 amid the continuous economic slowdown.

The competitive edge of Finland improved last year, and external factors helped Finland to reach a growth path which has been the fastest since 2010.

S&P predicted that growth would continue this year, but it said continued structural changes are be needed to ensure long term growth of Finnish economy. S&P gave the growth for 2018 as 2.5 percent and in 2019 as 1.6 percent. Statistcs Finland gave on Friday the growth for last year as 2.7 percent.

The agency did not not believe the current Finnish coalition would reach its pledged employment rate of 72 percent, but said it would be important for continued growth to attain it, against the backdrop of the Finnish age structure.

S&P reacted to the news this week that Nordea Bank is relocating from Sweden to Finland. The agency said the transfer of Nordea would increase risks for Finland, as the volume of the banking sector in Finland increases.

But the agency said the arrival of Nordea does not weaken the external position of Finland.

S&P underlined the importance of the transparent and efficient administrative system and political institutions in Finland. The agency said that good governance made the recent "package of competitive edge" possible.

One of the reasons that Finland still remains in AAplus is the "relatively large" debt of the state of Finland, said the agency.

Earlier in February, Fitch Ratings maintained AAplus for Finland.