Export / import rates soar
The Austrian trade industry is showing signs of recovery as exports and imports soared year on year in April.Statistik Austria announced today (Fri) foreign trade businesses reported a 13.6 per cent improvement in export rates last April compared to the same month of 2009. This improvement follows a 9.6 per cent year on year plus in March 2010.The value of overall Austrian imports improved by 6.6 per cent year on year, the federal statistics agency added.Austrian businesses wellbeing strongly depends on the state the German economy is in as the neighbouring country is Austrias most important export / import partner.A leading German think tank revealed recently that the mood among the countrys firm chiefs was improving as its Ifo index showed company bosses currently rated their prospects the best since in two years.Viennas Institute for Economic Research (WIFO) however warned that the economic crisis was not over yet despite early signs of recovery.It announced that Austrias gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 0.3 per cent in the first three months of 2010 compared to the fourth quarter of last year. This finding means the countrys economy did worse than the EU average which jumped by 0.2 per cent during the same period.The International Monetary Fund (IMF) meanwhile said it expected the Austrian economy to grow by 1.5 per cent year on year in 2010.