Sponsored Content
Austria's Budget Crisis: Between Austerity Measures and Deficit Procedures
The Austrian government is facing one of the biggest financial challenges in recent years: the budget deficit, originally estimated at 6.4 billion euros, has almost doubled according to current forecasts and could reach up to twelve billion euros. This dramatic development forces the coalition of ÖVP, SPÖ, and NEOS to rethink their austerity plans and possibly face an EU deficit procedure.
Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer (SPÖ) recently warned of a vicious circle given possible further savings. / Picture: © BKA/Brauneis
The main reason for this drastic change is the pessimistic economic forecasts. The National Bank expects the economy to contract by 0.1 percent of GDP and the budget deficit to reach 3.8 percent in 2025. Last year, Austria more than exceeded the Maastricht limit of a three percent budget deficit. Statistics Austria has now reported an increase in the general government deficit to 4.7…
or Log In
Fast News Search