Austria’s national bank governor (OeNB) Ewald Nowotny has come out in favour of a “Bad Bank” model to solve the problems of the Hypo Alpe Adria (HGAA) bank. The bank in Carinthia was at the centre of a scandal after it was revealed that it had been involved in a number of questionable activities including […]
FIMBAG boss Klaus Liebscher has admitted uncertainties regarding whether the state will ever again see any of its Volksbank AG (ÖVAG) participation capital. Liebscher told radio station Ö1 today (Thurs) it was impossible to make a definitive statement regarding the issue. He admitted that it was unlikely that the more than one billion Euros would […]
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) analyst Alois Strasser has warned that a crisis worse than the most recent one could “totally demolish” Austrian finance institutes’ capital. Strasser – who is in charge of the US American rating agency’s economic estimations for the Austrian economy – told Die Presse today (Fri) that the Republic of Austria could […]
An economist has rubbished claims that only the financial sector is to blame for the crisis. Stefan Bruckbauer, the chief economist of Bank Austria (BA), said on Saturday: “I don’t claim that banks are totally innocent since they financed the debtors.” Bruckbauer told the Kurier the Republic of Austria had to invest 1.7 billion Euros […]
Another leading credit rating agency has confirmed Austria’s excellent financial condition. US American rating agency Fitch said yesterday (Tues) it decided to keep Austria’s rating at AAA, the best possible estimation agencies issue on the financial trustworthiness and stability of a country or a company. Some experts warned that Fitch might consider downgrading Austria due […]
Young businesspeople expect a worsening of the economic climate – but they are also convinced of being able to weather the turmoil. The Association of Young Entrepreneurs said yesterday (Tues) it interviewed 2,200 self-employed Austrians in the past weeks. Around seven in 10 of them expect a new crisis but only two per cent fear […]
Gazprom manager Alexander Medvedev has hit out at European politicians and competition watchdogs. Asked whether Eastern Europe (EE) must brace for another gas crisis this winter due to the conflict between his company and Ukraine, the Gazprom deputy chairman told Austrian newspaper Die Presse: “(The) energy (sector) has always been connected with politics, but not […]
Bank Austria (BA) chief Willibald Cernko has said he plans to reduce the financial institute’s workforce level to get through the crisis. The banker announced yesterday (Mon) BA would have only 10,000 employees in Austria in 2015, 800 fewer than it had at the moment. Cernko underlined that sackings were not planned. He explained some […]
Alarm bells are ringing for politicians and businesspeople as the number of people with no job is on the rise again. Social Democratic (SPÖ) Labour Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer announced today (Tues) that around 300,400 people were out of work last month. The minister explained that the number of unemployed residents of Austria rose by 0.8 […]
Only three per cent of Austrians say they are not at all worried about another crisis.Pollster Market said today (Thurs) just three in 100 citizens had no concerns at all about a comeback of the recession in the foreseeable future. The agency added that 50 per cent of Austrians were “rather not worried” while six […]