Austrian National Bank: Hypo Bankruptcy Would Cost € 24bn

Politics ♦ Published: February 5, 2014; 21:08 ♦ (Vindobona)

The nationalized Balkan lender Hypo Group Alpe Adria causes major difficulties. Although the bankruptcy would be the cheapest option for Austrian taxpayers, the Austrian National Bank tries to prevent this scenario by all means.

Austrian National Bank: Hypo Bankruptcy Would Cost € 24bn / Picture: © Vindobona.org

Already a few weeks ago, OeNB´s governor Ewald Nowotny warned that the Austrian financial location would suffer damage to its image. Moreover, high write-downs in the Austrian banking sector and worse ratings for Austrian banks would cause an increase in borrowing costs, Nowotny stated in December.

In the past few days, calls for Hypo Group´s orderly insolvency became louder.…