Vienna's Foreign and Bilateral Relations

OECD Shows Great Concern over Hungarian Economy

According to the OECD, the country’s recovery from recession will be weak in 2014 and 2015

January 27, 2014

Atrium European Real Estate Limited - APPOINTMENT OF JOSIP KARDUN AS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER AND DEPUTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

January 27, 2014

Hungary Faces Trend Reversal in Monetary Policy

The Hungarian National Bank (MNB) has cut the reference rate to 2.85% from 3.00%. The end of the easing cycle is not reached yet.

January 25, 2014

Romania´s President Opposes the IMF

Traian Basescu is strictly against imposing an additional tax on fuel. Whether Romania will achieve the budget target is highly uncertain.

January 24, 2014

Poland: More than Half of Borrowing Needs Covered

In CESEE, governments are in a hurry. The Polish government announced that about 50% of the borrowing needs could be covered in the first three weeks of 2014.

January 24, 2014

Survey: CEOs in Romania Most Optimistic

A great majority of CEOs at Romanian enterprises are confident in regard to the economic outlook and growth in 2014.

January 24, 2014

Czech Republic: New Government Appointed in Late January

Zeman expected to appoint even “problematic” candidates.

January 24, 2014

RBI Not to Be Sold to Hungarian State

Hungarian Minister Varga announced that the Hungarian state had no interest in taking over RBI’s local affiliate. Instead, RBI announced that staying in Hungary was “the right decision”.

January 23, 2014

Eurozone: Highest Economic Growth in Two Years

The purchase manager index for the private economy increased to 53.2 points up by 1.1 points, as published by Markit research institute on Thursday.

January 23, 2014

Poland: Banking Sentiment Rises

The Polish banking sentiment indicator Pengab increased by 1.2 points in January on a month-on-month comparison basis to a total of 27.5 points.

January 23, 2014

Bulgaria Imposes Interest Ceiling on Quick Loans

The Bulgarian parliament plans on putting a lid on the interst rates of quick loans.

January 23, 2014

Poland: PKO BP Bond Rated A2

Rating agency Moody’s gave an “A2” with a negative outlook on the € 500m bond by Polish key lender PKO BP.

January 23, 2014

Uniqa Growing Faster Than Czech Insurance Market

Insurance group Uniqa reveals a significant increase in premiums in the first three quarter in 2013. Moreover, Uniqa showed an increase of CZK 3.3bn in the sector non-life insurance and CZK 877m in life insurances.

January 22, 2014

Eurozone: Number of Banks Declining Fastly

The decline in the number of euro area monetary financial institutions (MFI) continued in 2013, according to ECB’s (European Central Bank) reports.

January 22, 2014

Czech Economy to Grow Not Sooner than 2016

The Czech economy will struggle to show economic growth both this and next year, according to the Czech Federation of Trade Unions CMKOS.

January 21, 2014

Czech Republic: New Government Facing Bumpy Road

The first obstacles for forming a new government seem to have been surmounted – for the time being.

January 21, 2014

Spindelegger Met Almunia: „Bank Aids Were No Issue“

Today, Austrian Minister of Finance Michael Spindelegger has met Commissioner for competition Joaquin Almunia.

January 20, 2014

Czech Republic: Lending Conditions to Remain Stable

According to the Czech National Bank (CNB), credit conditions for corporate and mortgage loans will remain unchanged while conditions for consumer loans will tighten.

January 20, 2014

Poland to Do without Further Bond Issues

Poland will abstain from issuing new US-Dollar or Eurobonds.

January 20, 2014

Uniqa Serbia Continues to Grow

Market share increases to 7.3 per cent in third quarter of 2013. Premium volume for life insurance up 18.5 per cent.

January 20, 2014

„Hungarian Economy Must be Rearranged“

István Töröcskei thinks that the Hungarian banking sector is highly interesting. In general, the financial sector must help to develop the Hungarian economy, Töröcskei argues.

January 18, 2014

Czech Republic: Euro Introduction Has no Priority

In an interview with Bloomberg, designated prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka said that there will be no date for entering the Eurozone in the current term.

January 17, 2014

Croatia: “Loose Monetary Policy Shows First Signs of Success”

Boris Vujcic, governor of HNB (Croatian National Bank) thinks that the quantitative easing policy works.

January 17, 2014

Czech Republic: Sobotka Sworn in as PM

Head of the Czech Social Democrats (CSSD), Bohuslav Sobotka, was sworn in as new Prime Minister by President Milos Zeman on Friday afternoon.

January 17, 2014

Hungary: Forex Loan Problem to be Solved

According to the Hungarian National Bank (MNB), the problem of the foreign-exchange loans could be solved in the next half year.

January 17, 2014

Slovenia Attracting FDI from US and UK

The Slovenian Ministry of Finance is taking great efforts to attract investors from the US and the UK.

January 17, 2014

Bank Levy: Austrian Regional Banks Under High Pressure

The Austrian government will raise the bank levy significantly. Smaller banks have to perform disproportionately high taxes, Oberbank´s CEO Franz Gasselsberger says.

January 16, 2014

Poland Added in IMF´s Watch List

According to the International Monetary Fund, Poland is one out of four new countries which are systemically important in terms of crisis management.

January 16, 2014

Croatian Economy Suffers from Low Investor Confidence

In the first nine months of 2013, FDI continued to shrink. However, the FDI will improve gradually, analysts say.

January 16, 2014

S&P: Polish Banks to Remain “Strongly Profitable”

In 2014’s outlook on Polish banks rating agency Standard&Poor; announced that Polish banks are expected to benefit from an ongoing economic recovery and remain “strongly profitable”.

January 15, 2014

Czech Republic: Economic Growth Expected to Expand

The Czech Banking Association (CBA) has adjusted its economic forecast and expects a growth rate of 1.9 percent for the Czech economy this year.

January 14, 2014

Austria: Expert Paper for Hypo Group’s Bad Bank

An expert paper about possible downsizing options for state-controlled problem bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria is expected to be handed in to the government until the middle of the week.

January 13, 2014

CNB: Significant Increase in Profits

Due to the forex interventions in November last year, the Czech National Bank (CNB) was able to increase its results.

January 13, 2014

Serbia Facing Testing Year

The Serbian government is currently working on a plan to improve the competitiveness of domestic enterprises.

January 13, 2014

Polish Government to Focus on Social Security

According to Poland´s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the reduction of unemployment and the improvement of social security will be priority issues in 2014.

January 13, 2014

Romania: Economic Growth not Sustainable Yet

In the third quarter of 2013, Romania´s GDP growth amounted to 4.1%. Nevertheless, Romania is still far from a sustainable economic recovery.

January 11, 2014

Czech Fiscal Policy: Major Difficulties Ahead

Despite austerity measures, the Czech debt spiral was up considerably in the past years.

January 11, 2014

Bulgaria: Fitch Confirms Rating at “BBB-“

According to Fitch, the outlooks are stable. In case of an increase in political and social tensions, Bulgaria´s current rating would be in danger, however. Bulgaria´s financial situation is satisfying, though.

January 11, 2014

Hungary: Further Monetary Cuts Not Unlikely

Adam Balog, deputy governor of the Hungarian National Bank (MNB), argues that there is still downward potential.

January 10, 2014

Czech Economy: Good Prospects for Sustainable Recovery

The Czech economy is expected to return to growth already in the first half of 2014. Growth will not be only based on exports.

January 10, 2014

Poland: Finance Minister Optimistic About Growth

According to Finance Minister Mateusz Szczurek, economic growth in Poland could exceed three percent year-on-year in 2015.

January 10, 2014

Czech President Announces Appointment of Government

After months of disputes between the election winner and Czech President Milos Zeman, the date of the appointment of the new government was announced.

January 10, 2014

RBI: Change in Shareholdings Expected

The announcement to increase capital by Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) did not come as a surprise. However, experts and investors did not expect such a high volume (up to € 2.5bn) and fear a dilution in shareholdings.

January 10, 2014

Poland: Key Interest Rate to Remain Unchanged

As expected, the key interest rate will not be changed. According to Marek Belka, governor of the Polish National Bank (NBP), there was no need in monetary interventions.

January 9, 2014

Eurozone: Further Capital Injections at Banks Expected

The Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) is holding a summit today. The low inflation rate in the Eurozone is still a dilemma for the monetary authorities.

January 9, 2014

Hungary: Austrian Farmers Still Left in the Dark

There is still no clarification in the controversial Hungarian land law for Austrian farmers and land owners.

January 9, 2014

Bulgaria: Small Growth in Real Estate Market

The real estate market in Bulgaria saw a growth of 2.98 percent last year.

January 9, 2014

RBI: No Withdrawal from Hungary

Due to massive losses, the second-largest lender in CESEE was said to leave the difficult Hungarian market. RBI denies such reports.

January 8, 2014

Orco Property Group: Cut in Number of Board Members

Shareholders of Luxembourger real estate company Orco Property Group voted to cut the number of board members from nine to five on Monday.

January 8, 2014

Sobotka Presses for Appointment of Czech Government

As reported by Czech news agency CTK, party leader of the Czech Social Democrats (CSSD) Bohuslav Sobotka will get together with President Milos Zeman to request a fast appointing of the new government.

January 8, 2014