Upon Austria's entry into Stage Three of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) took on new tasks in the field of payment systems. January 4, 1999, marked the launch of the cross-border real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system TARGET. This system, in which...

The introduction of an auction system for the issuance of government bonds has brought the Austrian bond market closer to international standards. However, when issue prices are compared to theoretical prices derived from the secondary market, some issues show significant "overpricing". This...

With a GDP ratio of 36 percent indebtedness of Austrian private households is relatively low when compared with other OECD countries. Still, a total of AS 721 billion at the end of 1991 no longer allows to neglect issues related to debt accumulation. From a macroeconomic point of view, credit...

Despite lively overall economic activity the expansion of the Austrian private insurance sector in 1990 trailed GDP growth. Sluggishness, while extending to all branches of business, concentrated on life insurance whose annual growth rate was cut in half. The downward trend should have bottomed...

Growth of premium revenues in the Austrian insurance industry accelerated in 1991 and 1992, despite the cyclical slowdown of overall economic activity. Life insurance premium revenues stagnated in 1991, but picked up strongly in the following year. Damage ratios increased considerably in 1991...

Effective November 4, the last remaining cross-border restrictions in the Austrian payment and capital system have been removed. This step is unlikely to provoke massive capital transactions, because most of these transactions could already be carried out through Austrian banks. Membership in...

In 1989 and 1990, the expansion of the private insurance sector fell short of overall economic growth. For the first time in the eighties premium revenues rose less fast than nominal GDP. The tax reform of 1989 and the high level of interest rates let life insurance premium yields even decline...

The Treaty of Maastricht specified the goals for monetary policy: According to Art. 105(1), the primary objective of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) is to maintain price stability. However, the Treaty also stipulates that, without prejudice to the objective of price stability, the...

The increasing interdependence on international capital markets has also forced the Austrian capital market to adjust. The Stock Exchange Act of 1989 was modelled after internatinal standards. The Capital Market Act, that is likely to take effect at the beginning of 1992, will not neglect to...