In the EU, the economy is once again, creakingly, on the road to expansion, powered chiefly by the growth of domestic demand in the USA. Within Europe, internal demand has so far been lacklustre. Unemployment will rise throughout this year, but should move down again next year, in response to...

In the OECD countries, the recovery from the slump of 2001 was slow and painful. According to preliminary figures, these countries managed a growth in GDP of 1.3 percent in 2002, compared to 0.8 percent in 2001. In view of the geopolitical vagaries of the second half of 2002, demand for...

Due to their geographic proximity, traditional economic ties and a policy of rapprochement with the EU, the Western Balkan region (Albania, Bosnia–Herzegovina, Kosovo, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia) has been accorded particular importance by Austria. By international standards,...

Following a cyclical downturn in 2014, the Austrian economy is set to grow at a moderate pace of 1.3 percent p.a. over the period from 2015 to 2019. Private consumption and investment will experience a sluggish growth, while the external contribution to GDP growth will remain modest. The gradual...

The WIFO Business Cycle Survey serves as an important early-indication tool for the economic situation in Austria. Using a Markov regime-switching model, it is possible to determine at an early point in time whether the business cycle is in its upward or downward mode. Regime probabilities are...

The European Council proposes to the European Parliament that Jean-Claude Juncker become president of the European Commission. Aiming to get the inflation rate in the euro area back to the 2 percent threshold, the ECB introduces, for the first time in its history, negative interest rates for ECB...