Foreign Trade Benefits from International Upswing and Weak Euro

The persistent weakness of the euro and the excellent performance of the world economy have resulted in an export boom in Austria and the euro zone. However, given the low exchange rate and the high crude oil prices, the value of Austrian imports increased even more strongly, which contributed towards a significant deterioration of the balance on current account in the first half of 2000. The domestic economy is growing vigorously, but enterprise surveys do not suggest a further acceleration of growth in the near future. Despite the satisfactory level of economic activity, the seasonally adjusted number of employees did not further increase in August. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, however, continued to decline slightly.