The government is confronted with mounting criticism after presenting plans to lower the number of parliamentary delegates (MPs). The government coalition, formed by the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), said earlier this month the number of MPs should shrink by 13 to 165 after the coming election. Viennese SPÖ Mayor Michael […]
Tag: ÖVP
Sberbank focuses on Vienna and Poland
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Volksbank International (VBI) will continue to have its headquarters in Vienna, the vice chairman of the finance institute’s new owner has promised. Sergey Gorkov, the deputy head of Sberbank’s executive board, said today (Mon) VBI would not leave the Austrian capital. He told the Kurier newspaper the plan was to increase the number of staff […]
Mikl-Leitner denies lack of reforms
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Johanna Mikl-Leitner has defended the government’s disputed pension system agenda. The interior minister dismissed accusations that the recently presented budget consolidation agreement featured too many open questions. Mikl-Leitner told Die Presse that substantial structural reforms would be achieved if the average retirement age rises from the current 58 to 61 or 62 in 2020. The […]
The government is facing friendly fire after revealing plans to slash the parliament’s number of seats. The Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and its coalition partner, the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), said earlier this month the parliament should feature just 165 delegates instead of the current 183. The reform could come into effect after the next […]
Social Democratic (SPÖ) whip Josef Cap has said he is optimistic about strong support for a reform of the parliament by all represented factions. The long-time member of parliament (MP) said today (Fri) he was certain that the opposition would approve plans for a reduction of the federal parliament too “if the concept is convincing”. […]
Viennese Social Democratic (SPÖ) Financial Affairs Councillor Renate Brauner has stressed that “immense challenges” are ahead for the city. Brauner told the Kurier today (Fri) that the Viennese SPÖ-Greens coalition would try to avoid a decrease of service quality to citizens despite the need to save one billion Euros in the coming five years. Brauner […]
A leading rating agency has sent shockwaves through Austria by threatening to downgrade its credit rating. New York City-based credit rating agency Moody’s announced last night (Mon/Tues) that it decided to put Austria on negative credit watch due to great uncertainty about whether Europe will be able to solve the worsening debt crisis. The outlook […]
Austrians unimpressed by rising rents
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Almost one out of five Austrians consider investing in real estate within the next 12 months, according to an investigation. Public opinion agency Integral found that 19 per cent of Austrians planned to spend money on properties in the coming 12 months – five per cent more than in the previous quarter. The research group’s […]
Upper Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) Governor Josef Pühringer has put the federal government’s cost reduction course into question. Pühringer said today (Tues): “Everybody who thinks that subsidies could be reduced by billions of Euros is wrong.” The ÖVP wants to reduce the state’s annual spending on private and public companies, cultural institutions and various organisations […]
WU wants higher budget
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The head of one of Austria’s biggest universities has said the current situation at his institution was “dramatic”. Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU) boss Christoph Badelt explained yesterday (Mon) that the things were becoming increasingly difficult due to a soaring number of students who qualified to sit their final exams. He said the […]