The government intends to change Austria’s insolvency regulations to loosen protective factors banks have so far benefited from. Several bankers – including Andreas Treichl, the head of market leader Erste Bank Group AG (Erste Bank) – have spoken out in favour of a reform of the financial sector bankruptcy law. Austrian law fails to feature […]
People’s Party (ÖVP) Finance Minister Maria Fekter has admitted that another Austrian bank may need more money. Fekter told radio Ö1 on Saturday that KA Finanz could have a demand of one billion Euros. The finance institute was created in 2008 as the bad bank of nationalised Kommunalkredit. Fekter’s statement comes shortly after her party […]
The number of unemployed people is on the rise in Austria. Statistik Austria announced yesterday (Thurs) that 310,000 residents of the country had no job in February. This is an increase of 6.1 per cent compared to the same month of 2011. Styria experienced the strongest increase among Austria’s nine provinces at 9.4 per cent. […]
The Austrian government has decided to partly nationalise one of the country’s biggest banks. Negotiators – including People’s Party (ÖVP) Finance Minister Maria Fekter and Social Democratic (SPÖ) State Secretary Andreas Schieder – announced yesterday evening (Mon) that the state would increase the small share it was currently holding in Volksbank AG (ÖVAG) to 49 […]
The European Commission (EC) has appealed to Austria to abolish the various hindrances immigrants are facing on the country’s labour market. EC officials decided yesterday (Mon) to issue a warning to the Austrian government coalition of Social Democrats (SPÖ) and People’s Party (ÖVP) as well as to Austrian private economy decision-makers. EC experts said highly […]
Political scientist Anton Pelinka has reacted critically to the government’s plan to reduce the parliament. Werner Faymann’s Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) of Vice Chancellor and Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Spindelegger announced earlier this month that the number of federal parliament delegates would shrink by 18 to 165 after next year’s […]
The Viennese city coalition plans to crack down on early retirement. Social Democratic (SPÖ) Mayor Michael Häupl announced yesterday (Tues) that he wanted to increase the average pension age of the capital’s public servants from the current 56 to 60 years. Häupl did not disclose when the four-year increase should be achieved. His announcement came […]
A Green Party member’s decision to confront the government with an ultimatum did not remain without reactions. Peter Pilz said at the weekend it was time to increase the pressure on the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the People’s Party (ÖVP) for stricter anti-corruption regulations and an effective party funding regulative. The parliament member (MP) told […]
Social Democratic (SPÖ) Labour and Social Affairs Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer has said the fines for breaches of education regulations might rise. Hundstorfer said before the meeting of government ministers yesterday (Tues) that he could imagine to support an increase of the maximum penalty from 220 Euros to twice this amount. The labour minister once more […]
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 […]