According to experts from the Economic Research Institute (Wifo), the Austrian economy is transitioning from stagnation to contraction. The service sectors, construction and industry are particularly affected.
Global economic development in the first quarter of 2023 showed a mixed picture: while emerging countries experienced significant expansion, industrialized countries stagnated. For the third quarter, leading indicators point to a further decline in GDP in Austria. In addition to short-term challenges, medium-term problems, such as the loss of price competitiveness, can also weigh on the export economy.
Orders are missing
The results of the Wifo business survey from July paint a gloomy picture: business economic estimates deteriorated again and the estimates of the situation are pessimistic for the first time since March 2021. In the manufacture of goods, it is mainly the strong decrease in the order book that dampens expectations.
However, despite the economic challenges, inflation remains at a high level. Unemployment is also rising again. At the end of July, about 15,000 more people were registered as unemployed than a year earlier, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 5.9 percent.
Chamber of Commerce demands tax reduction, targeted financing
Secretary General of the Chamber of Commerce and ÖVP politician Karlheinz Kopf speaks of an “alarming” situation. What is needed is an “establishment package” with a significant reduction in the burden on labour, competitive energy prices after the end of the energy cost subsidies, a permanent introduction of the electricity price, compensation for anti-competitive CO2 certificate costs, a significantly higher investment-friendly legal and fiscal framework, targeted grants for investment projects to decarbonise the economy and finally an implementation of the announced labor market and benefits package to alleviate the labor shortage that persists despite the economic downturn,” said Kopf, demanding a series of measures from the turquoise green federal government.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
