Austrian banks ‘will not flee Greece’

Categories
Finance

The chiefs of Austria’s biggest banks ensured they would not reduce investments in financially struggling Greece.Raiffeisenzentralbank (RZB) boss Walter Rothensteiner said after a meeting with the heads of Austria’s other four major banks and People’s Party (ÖVP) Finance Minister: “We will not speculate against Greece, and we won’t reduce our investments in the country.”Austrian banks […]

BA economist says industrial branch to grow sharply this year

Categories
Business

Bank Austria (BA) chief economist Stefan Bruckbauer said he expected Austria’s industrial branch to grow “by at least four per cent” this year.Bruckbauer said today (Thurs) preliminary figures showed a record increase from foreign companies in demand for Austrian industrial firms’ products this month.”These developments confirm that Austria’s industrial branch is to become a decisive […]

Austria misses EU research investment target

Categories
Politics

Austria failed to reach the European Union’s (EU) research investments benchmark of three per cent, it has been exposed.Federal statistics agency Statistik Austria said today (Thurs) it expected the government to spend 7.805 billion Euros on research and development this year. This figure would make only 2.76 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product […]

Political scientist says Rosenkranz bid will not harm Austria’s reputation

Categories
Politics

The candidacy of Barbara Rosenkranz in the upcoming presidential elections will not damage Austria’s reputation abroad, a top political scientist has said.Salzburg-based Reinhard Heinisch, who lived and lectured in the United States for many years, said yesterday (Sun): “Austria is a relatively small and unimportant country. It is a problem Austria is getting linked with […]

Quiet Easter weekend on Lower Austrian roads

Categories
General News

Almost 1,500 traffic accidents happened over the Easter weekend in Lower Austria.Officials however said today (Mon) the holidays had been “relatively quiet” as far as the number of car crashes was concerned.Stefan Spielbichler, a spokesman for rescue officials in Austria’s biggest province, said no one had died on Lower Austrian roads since Good Friday.The Federal […]

New pilgrimage route to open in Lower Austria

Categories
Lifestyle

A new 162 kilometre long St. James pilgrimage route from Mikulov in the Czech Republic to Krems, Lower Austria, will formally open on Easter Monday, it was announced today (Mon).The opening ceremony and blessing of the route will take place in Großrußbach.The route, which will go through Drasenhofen, Mistelbach, Großrußbach and Stockerau in Lower Austria’s […]

Centenarian is Austria’s oldest librarian

Categories
Lifestyle

Hermine Brummeir is set to become Upper Austria’s oldest library member as she prepares to celebrate her 100th birthday.The century-old Librarian at the public library in Wels, Upper Austria, is still spry and for more than 40 years has been checking out books, especially detective stores which are her special passion.She also does dozens of […]

Recovery not in sight as think tank corrects growth forecast

Categories
Business

A significant upward trend is not in sight for Austria’s economy, a top think tank has warned.The Vienna-based Institute for Economic Research (Wifo) today (Fri) lowered its economic growth forecast for 2010 and 2011. Wifo officials said they expected the country’s economy to grow by 1.3 per cent this year and by 1.4 per cent […]

Austrian banks’ 2009 balances saved by CEE business

Categories
Business

Austrian banks benefited from their investments in Central and Eastern Europe last year, it was claimed today (Thurs).Andreas Ittner, director of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB), said that OeNB’s estimate was that the country’s banks had earned 0.9 per cent more year on year in 2009 due to CEE engagements.Ittner said that OeNB’s studies had […]

Schönborn and Leitl rule out voting Rosenkranz

Categories
Politics

Vienna Archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn said today (Fri) he could rule out voting for the Freedom Party’s (FPÖ) presidential election candidate Barbara Rosenkranz.Schönborn said: “Someone who questions the ‘National Socialism prohibition law’ and fails to make clear statements regarding the Holocaust is not an option for me personally.”Rosenkranz, who represents the ultra-conservative wing of right-wing […]