A mix of solid economic policies, wage moderation, and an early orientation toward Eastern Europe explain Austria’s strong economic performance. The economy has grown strong in 2007 and through the first quarter of 2008. Employment growth remains strong, but the trend of a declining...

The Austrian authorities have been making great efforts since 2003 to enhance the quality of banking supervision and keep up-to-date with banking sector developments. Banks face a reputation risk arising from exposure to money laundering/financing of terrorism risk in both domestic and...

This technical note focuses on the Austrian banking system that exhibits considerable resilience against shocks determined by stress tests. The main sources of risk lie in the credit risk arising from exposures to Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe (CESE) and the Commonwealth of...

This Selected Issues paper for Austria looks at the fiscal burden facing Austria owing to aging, and the policy steps necessary to address it. It gives a short description of the Austrian pension, health care, and long-term care systems, and describes how aging will affect the costs of these...

The Austrian economy has been growing at an annual rate in excess of 3percent since mid-1999. Experience with deregulation in the telecommunications and electricity sectors is encouraged. With strong economic growth and expansionary monetary conditions from an Austrian perspective, Executive...

This Selected Issues paper focuses on the medium-term budgetary framework (MTBF) for Austria. Austria is part of a trend among many countries to consider some form of MTBF. This paper describes the proposed framework in Austria and assesses it in light of the experience of other countries. The...

This 2007 Article IV Consultation highlights that the favorable economic outcome for Austria is owed to a combination of stability-oriented macropolicies, a range of structural reforms, strong international competitiveness resulting from a social partnership that facilitates wage moderation, and...

Austria’s recession had limited effects on unemployment. Investment declined sharply but consumption helped cushion the recession, supported by tax cuts and various labor market measures together with large increases in real wages. Austria’s fiscal position has weakened significantly in...

This Selected Issues paper estimates a dynamic model of foreign currency loans to households in Austria to analyze their behavior and assess the effectiveness of measures intended to stem their rise. This paper also studies the developments in Austria’s economic linkages with Germany and the...

Austria’s Financial System Stability Assessment highlights Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes on banking supervision, securities regulation, and insurance regulation. The banking sector has weathered the recent economic slowdown well, and is generally sound and resilient. Austria...