Austrian Economic Policy News and Analysis

Read the latest headlines about policies and laws influencing the business and investment environment of Vienna and Austria

Gazprom to Team Up With Macedonia

Russian energy giant Gazprom is interested in cooperating with FYR Macedonia.

September 17, 2013

Slovenia: Unemployment Increases Further

The unemployment rate in Slovenia went up to 12.9%.

September 17, 2013

Leitl Recommends Parties Not to Raise Hopes

President of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Christoph Leitl considers the demand of the Social Democrats and Chancellor Werner Faymann for a tax relief as soon as 2015 utopian.

September 17, 2013

Romania: Austrian Investors Demand Transparency

In an interview with Business Review Romania, Rudolf Lukavsky, commercial counselor for Romania and Moldova at the Austrian Embassy described the downsides and advantages of the economic environment in the country.

September 17, 2013

Bulgaria Allows Non-Residents Acquisition of Farmland

Bulgaria will allow foreigners will be able to acquire agricultural land.

September 16, 2013

EU Commission to Sanction Croatia

The EU Commission is determined to start sanction against the newest member of the European Union, Croatia.

September 16, 2013

Croatia, Slovenia and Italy in Favor of Closer Cooperation

Italian, Croatian and Slovenian PMs push for stronger cooperation.

September 16, 2013

Bulgaria: President Delivers Warning

Bulgaria's President delivers a strong warning about the country’s long-term instability.

September 16, 2013

Faymann: New Government Will Be Smaller

In an interview with Austrian daily “Österreich“ (Sunday issue) Chancellor Faymann announced that the new government will be reduced by two members of parliament.

September 16, 2013

IHS/WIFO: Austrian Hypo Group Needs Bad Bank

Christian Keuschnigg and Karl Aiginger claim that the nationalized Austrian bank should be split into a “good” and a “bad” part. Austria´s public debt would increase substantially.

September 16, 2013

Czech Republic: No Further Monetary Easing

As long there are no risks of deflation, the Czech National Bank will leave the current monetary policy unchanged. Further easing measures are not necessary.

September 15, 2013

Hungarian National Bank to Use Foreign Currency Reserves

In order to support Hungarian homeowners, MNB (Hungarian National Bank) sells a part of its forex-reserves.

September 15, 2013

Slovenia: Bankruptcy Without ECB/ESM?

Without external aid, Slovenia will not manage its severe financial crisis, experts say. A bail-out becomes more likely.

September 15, 2013

Polish Government Wobbles

The majority of Poland´s governing parties is at risk. New elections would be rather unfavorable for Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

September 14, 2013

Austria Must Implement Liquidation Mechanism for Banks

In order to minimize fiscal losses, Austrian problem banks should be liquidates soon, IMF claims. In this case, Austria would not reach its fiscal targets in the next years.

September 13, 2013

Austria: IMF Pushes for Tax Reform

The International Monetary Fund recommends re-considering the tax system. The Austrian wage taxes are too high, IMF criticizes.

September 13, 2013

Serbia Welcomes Russian FDI

Serbian Prime Minister announced that his country was interested in Russian investments.

September 13, 2013

Eurogroup Grants Cyprus Further € 1.5bn

Payments will be made at the end of September

September 13, 2013

Austria: Chancellor and Deputy Chancellor Lose in Trust Index

Compared to the results of last month, both Chancellor Werner Faymann and his Deputy Michael Spindelegger have lost the voters’ trust according to the APA/OGM Trust Index that was carried out on a sample of 500 persons.

September 13, 2013

ECB Worried About Slovenia

The European Central Bank is uncertain whether the financially stricken country will be able to manage its banking crisis.

September 12, 2013

Hypo Needs € 700m in Capital Increase

The ailing banking group needs a further capital injection in order to fulfill the lawful capital adequacy requirements.

September 12, 2013

Lopatka Welcomes Statement by Barroso

Subsidiarity is the precondition for a successful European Union.

September 12, 2013

Poland: Rallies Against Government

Around 20,000 persons took part in a rally against the government organized by the country’s three largest trade unions: Solidarity, the All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions (OPZZ) and the Trade Unions Forum.

September 12, 2013

Austria Requires More Risk Capital

On an international level, the risk capital investments in domestic enterprises are low at only 0.04 percent of GDP.

September 12, 2013

Turkey: Clashes During Protests

In several Turkish cities, the police violently dispersed protest movements and used tear gas and water cannons. The latest wave of protests was triggered by the death of a 22-year-old young man.

September 12, 2013

Austria: OeNB Denies Hypo Revaluations

According to the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) there are no revaluations in regard to Hypo Group Alpe Adria’s capital requirement.

September 12, 2013

Romania: Construction Industry to Grow by 1.9 Percent

The growth rate in the construction industry is even higher than economic growth in real terms.

September 12, 2013

Hungary: Monetary Easing Policy to be Continued

Hungary´s National Bank MNB has decided to extend the “lending for growth” program until 2014. In total, the program´s volume comes at € 7.0bn.

September 12, 2013

Hypo Group Needs up to € 17bn

The scenarios for the nationalized Austrian banking group become even more pessimistic.

September 12, 2013

Austria: Enormous Amounts Could Pile Up For Hypo Group

According to Austrian daily “Standard“, the winding down of the ailing bank Hypo could be even more expensive than assumed so far. The amount of required capital reanges between € 6.2bn (until the end of 2014) and € 17bn (until 2017).

September 11, 2013

Schieder: IMF Confirms SPÖ-Claims

State Secretary for Finances, Andreas Schieder regards the demands by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a confirmation of those by the Social Democrats (SPÖ).

September 11, 2013

Turkish Airlines Not Interested in Croatia Airlines

The Turkish airline carrier has denied rumors of acquiring states at Croatia Airlines.

September 11, 2013

Slovenia: Employment Outlooks Deteriorated

Outlooks for Slovenian jobseekers have darkened. According to a recent survy of temporary employment company Manpower presented on Tuesday, employment outlook has dropped from 7 percent to zero.

September 11, 2013

Romania: Chinese Investors to Support Infrastructure Projects with € 3bn

According to the Romanian Infrastructure and Foreign Investments Department (DPIIS), investors from China will support the construction of new highways and electricity generating power plants in the amount of more than € 3bn.

September 11, 2013

Austria: Spindelegger Confident About Becoming New Chancellor

The intense elections campaign for the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) has officially started on Tuesday. Deputy Chancellor and party leader Spindelegger promised more jobs and housing space.

September 11, 2013

IMF: Praise and Criticism for Austria

According to the IMF´s country report, Austria´s main problem is the fiscal situation.

September 11, 2013

VIG: Downsizing Business in Italy

Donau Versicherung, affiliate of VIG, has to make provisions in the amount of € 35m.

September 10, 2013

Turkish Dogus Group Not Interested in Hypo Alpe Adria

A high-ranking representative of Turkish Dogus Group denied that the corporation was interested in taking over Austrian bank Hypo Alpe Adria. In an interview with “Wall Street Journal” he claimed there had been no negotiations with Hypo.

September 10, 2013

Czech Republic: One Third to Vote for CSSD

According to a poll, 28 percent of Czechs would vote for the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) if an election was held now.

September 10, 2013

Turkey: Strong Industrial Production at Start of Q3

Turkey saw a strong industrial production at the start of the third quarter, according to official data, which gives hope for an improved economic growth as the country is facing more and more economic difficulties.

September 10, 2013

Austria: Weak Growth Impulses

Today, the Austrian Institute for Economic Research (Wifo) has corrected the economic outlooks for Austria downwards. Growth impulses have been very weak so far.

September 10, 2013

Poland: Unemployment Dropping Slightly

The number of registered jobseekers decreased in August.

September 10, 2013

Faymann Underlines Necessity of Property Taxes

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann (SPÖ) calls for new taxes. In total, property taxes should bring tax revenues of more than € 2.0bn.

September 9, 2013

Orban on Foreign Banks: „Colonization is Over“

Hungary´s Prime Minister Viktor Orban emphasizes that foreign banks have to pay for foreign exchange loans.

September 9, 2013

Poland: Government Gives Green Light to Budget Draft

The Polish Government has approved the budget plan for 2014 with the deficit gap closing further after a refurbishment of the private pension system.

September 9, 2013

Hungary May Reprogram EU Regional Aid

Hungary is faced with the reprograming of up to 5 percent or a volume of up to € 250m of its current EU regional aid.

September 9, 2013

Slovenia Shuts Down Two Small Banks

In order to ensure the stability of its financing sector, Slovenia decided to liquidate two banks, Factor Banka and Probanka. According to state officials, the step was also taken to avoid international bailout.

September 9, 2013

Romania: West Region to Catch Up Economically

Romania's West Region aims to catch up with its more developed peers in the European Union.

September 9, 2013

TAP: Surveys with Contractors to Begin

Trans Adriatic Pipeline has authorized its contractors to start surveys.

September 9, 2013

Croatia: Record Year in Tourism

Croatia will have a record year in tourism says Minister.

September 9, 2013