Austria International Political News | International | EU | Domestic

Read the latest headlines about developments in Austrian politics with reference to the international interest

Bulgaria: Protests About to Escalate

Heavy clashes between protestors and policemen in Bulgaria´s capital Sofia are endangering the political stability.

July 24, 2013

Poland: Dispute Between NBP and Finance Ministry

Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski and Governor of Polish National Bank Marek Belka are blaming each other for the poor performance of Poland´s economy.

July 23, 2013

Hypo Group: Current Capital Injection Not Enough

Klaus Liebscher, head of the supervisory board of the nationalized Austrian problem bank, thinks that the Ministry of Finance will have to inject further money.

July 23, 2013

Orban: Not Joining Eurozone in the Next Ten Years

Hungary´s Prime Minister thinks that his country should not become a member of the euro area in the medium term.

July 23, 2013

Russia: Inflation on the Rise

In the first six months of 2013, the inflation rate came at 3.5%. Compared to the reference period of 2012, the inflation rate was up by 0.4 percentage points.

July 23, 2013

Turkish National Bank Raises Base Rate

Today, Turkey´s National Bank has increased the base rate from 6.5% to 7.25%. Turkey wants to prevent a devaluation of the lira.

July 23, 2013

Hungarian Central Bank Cuts Base Rate Again

At its meeting on 23 July 2013, the Monetary Council reviewed the latest economic and financial developments and voted to reduce the central bank base rate by 25 basis points from 4.25% to 4.00%, with effect from 24 July 2013.

July 23, 2013

Hungary Plans New Burden for Banks

Hungarian households are still over-indebted. Prime Minister Viktor Orban aims to help them on the expense of the banking sector.

July 23, 2013

Croatia Receives Major Loan from EIB

The European Investment Bank grants a € 250m loan for the new EU member.

July 23, 2013

Poland to Enter the Eurozone in the Medium Term

The biggest new EU member country will become a member of the Eurozone, political observers say unanimously. The only question is when.

July 23, 2013

Austria Suffers from Company Exodus

Due to the relocation of businesses, the Austrian state has lost tax intake of € 1.3bn since 2008. The Austrian group taxation model must not be abolished experts of the Austrian Ministry of Finance say.

July 22, 2013

Russia: Recession Not Excluded Anymore

Above all, Russia suffers from a shrinking industrial sector and a decline in foreign direct investments.

July 22, 2013

Poland: Budget Deficit to Peak in 2013

This year, Poland´s budget deficit is expected to reach 4.4% of GDP. The country still has a stable public sector, Moody´s comments.

July 22, 2013

CESEE Countries Show More Fiscal Discipline

Euro area government debt up to 92.2% of GDP. EU27 debt up to 85.9%. The debt increase in Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and the Baltic countries was very decent or even negative.

July 22, 2013

Austrian Appointed Head of the OSCE in Albania

Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs congratulates Ambassador Raunig on his appointment as head of the OSCE Presence in Albania.

July 22, 2013

Czech Banking Industry Reduces Lending Significantly

According to a survey issued by the Czech National Bank, banks tightened their credit standards in all the monitored credit market segments in 2013 Q2.

July 22, 2013

Hypo Group Needs Even More Money

The nationalized Austrian bank needs fresh funds of more than € 700m. For the Austrian taxpayers, the banking package becomes more and more costly.

July 21, 2013

Kommunalkredit to be Liquidated

The EU Commission has approved the plans submitted by the Austrian government. The nationalized bank will need further state aids.

July 20, 2013

Federation of Austrian Industry Defends Group Taxation

The Federation of Austrian Industry (IV) argues that the Austrian business location would be endangered without the group taxation.

July 20, 2013

NBP Wants Government to Adapt Budget

After the Polish government has announced to postpone its austerity plans, the National Bank of Poland calls the government to submit an updated fiscal outlook.

July 19, 2013

Austrian Audit Court Criticizes Group Taxation

The costs of the Austrian group taxation model total about € 450m, the Audit Court said in a current report.

July 19, 2013

Austrian Banking Package: Major Burden for Taxpayers

In total, the banking package has caused costs of more than € 6.4bn. Austrian taxpayers must expect further costs.

July 19, 2013

Bulgaria: South Stream Offers 6,000 New Jobs

South Stream Bulgaria´s CEO Georgi Gegov stresses the economic effect of the new gas pipeline from Russia to Western Europe.

July 18, 2013

Serbia to Invest in Renewable Energy

The Balkan country wants to invest more than € 10bn in its energy production. The focus will be on renewable energy.

July 18, 2013

Erdogan Attacks Banks

Turkey´s Prime Minister wants to strengthen his fight against the over-indebtedness of private Turkish households. According to Erdogan, banks are responsible for the unfavorable situation.

July 18, 2013

Russian Economy Shows Insufficient Diversification

The Russian economy is primarily based on commodities, economists at the Moscow Higher School of Economics report. In the medium term, Russia has no growth potential, the experts say.

July 18, 2013

Poland Tries to Manage Fiscal Balancing Act

On the one hand, Poland´s government wants to keep an eye on the Maastricht Criteria. On the other hand, the economic growth would shrink even more without a fiscal stimulus.

July 18, 2013

Turkey Considers Economic Re-Orientation

The Turkish government wants to shift its economic focus from Europe to Asia.

July 18, 2013

Turkey Suffers from Massive Capital Outflow

Due to the mass protests and the sharp political reactions, investors became suddenly much more cautious.

July 17, 2013

Polish Government to Leave Austerity Path

In order to boost Poland´s economic growth, the government wants to ease the fiscal discipline.

July 17, 2013

Austria Stresses Importance of Agency for Fundamental Rights

"EU Agency for Fundamental Rights in Vienna plays a central role in the monitoring of fundamental rights."

July 17, 2013

CNB Expects Croatian GDP to Contract Remarkably

The Croatian National Bank forecasts a GDP decline of 1.0% in 2013.

July 17, 2013

Spanish and Polish Prime Minister Support EU-US Free Trade Agreement

On the occasion of a state visit in Madrid, Poland´s Prime Minister Donald Tusk declared that the free trade agreement between the U.S. and the EU would be a driver for economic growth. The EU must strengthen its energy strategy, Tusk said.

July 16, 2013

Poland: Economic Upswing not before 2014

Poland´s National Bank NBP expects that the country´s economic performance will not improve visibly this year.

July 16, 2013

„Austrian Banking Sector Still Weakly Capitalized“

Austrian National Bank (OeNB) criticizes that the domestic banking sector did not improve the equity base sufficiently.

July 16, 2013

IMF to Leave Hungary

Hungary´s National Bank MNB has called the IMF to close its representative office. Hungary wants to repay the loan facility provided by the IMF soon.

July 16, 2013

Austrian Population Increasing Only Because of Migration

Austria's Population rose in 2012 by about 43 700 people. Without migration, Austria would shrink. About 140,000 people are moving to Austria and 100,000 people are leaving the country year by year.

July 16, 2013

ExxonMobil Signs Agreement with Ukrainian Government

ExxonMobil regards 45bn cubic meters of gas production realistic.

July 15, 2013

Poland: State Companies to Submit to Further Control

Poland to enhance supervision over state companies in the energy sector.

July 15, 2013

OMV Takes Up Production in Libya Again

OMV update on production in Libya.

July 15, 2013

RBI Plans on Reconstructing Branch Banks

The new concept of Karl Sevelda, successor of former CEO Herbert Stepic, is becoming clearer. He has inherited the task to reconstruct the capital of Basel-III.

July 15, 2013

Fekter: Horror Figures with Hypo’s Restructuring Plan.

The restructuring plan for Hypo Alpe Adria involves several scenarios, which Finance Minister Fekter does not want to mention. The “horror figures” tax payers are burded with are set up “in an apocalyptical way”, according to her.

July 15, 2013

Austrian GDP Growth Above European Average

In 2012, Austria saw a growth of GDP of 0.9 percent which is signifantly above the European average.

July 12, 2013

Turkey: BIST Formed Partnership with US NASDAQ

Turkey's Borsa Istanbul (BIST), one of the most profitable stock markets in the emerging world, has formed a strategic partnership deal with the US-based NASDAQ OMX Group, the owner and operator of NASDAQ stock market.

July 12, 2013

Czech Republic: Gloomy Prospects for Economy

The Czech economy is shrinking. According to experts, new Prime Minister Jiri Rusnok will not be able to change much. Enterprises have started to cut back on investments.

July 12, 2013

Serbia to Invest € 10bn in Energy Sector

Serbia will invest € 10 bn in the development of the energy sector in the next eight years.

July 12, 2013

OMV Petrom Sold Subsidiary

OMV Petrom sold its subsidiary Petrom Distribuţie Gaze SRL.

July 11, 2013

OMV to Shut Down Production in Libya

Statement on OMV’s production in Libya.

July 11, 2013

Russia to Support Serbia Financially

Russian government paid $300 million of financial support to the budget of Serbia.

July 11, 2013

Russia to Reduce Oil Export

Russia produces more oil which is increasingly used in the country itself. Refineries outside of Russia do not fear immediate bottlenecks in the supply of oil.

July 11, 2013