Austrians plan to consume less in light of Greek crisis: survey

The Austrians wish to consume less in part due to the lengthy Greek debt negotiations despite an expected increase in incomes to arise from tax reforms, a new survey has revealed Wednesday.

The economic survey from market research company GfK Austria said the Greek issue had significantly influenced the mood of consumers in most European countries.

In Austria it measured a second-quarter deterioration in economic expectations to -19.9 points, 3.3 points lower than in March and almost 15 points lower year-on-year.

Paul Unterhuber from the research company said in a press release that along with the crisis in Greece and that of Ukraine, domestic rising unemployment and economic stagnation have led to the pessimistic outlook and uncertainty amongst consumers.

GfK Austria carried out the survey in the early weeks of June when the Greek crisis and related negotiations had begun in earnest and does not take into account the recently-achieved agreement with the eurozone.

However, it said it expects the figures to worsen further in numerous European countries who hold high levels of Greek debt such as Germany, Italy, and France over the summer. Endit