VIENNA (MNI) – The Austrian economy enjoys relatively favorable
conditions heading into the New Year, but it cannot rest on its laurels,
according to the country’s central bank governor Ewald Nowotny.
“The share of exports has risen markedly, economic growth over the
longer term is higher than in the Eurozone, unemployment is lower and
the long-term annual inflation rate has been just below 2%,” Nowotny was
quoted as saying in a press release issued Thursday by the Austrian
National Bank.
“But in order to protect these positive effects of the stable euro
over time, major efforts will again be necessary in 2012,” said Nowotny,
who is also a member of the ECB’s Governing Council.
Public finances must be consolidated with determination in 2012,
Nowotny said. In order to maintain the triple-A rating recently
confirmed by Moody’s and to reinforce the confidence of financial
markets, a deficit limit must be anchored in the constitution and the
rollback of debt pursued over the medium term, he said.
[TOPICS: M$$EC$,M$X$$$,M$$CR$,MGX$$$,MFX$$$]
