Austria's 2017 growth forecasts revised downwards

Two of Austria's leading economic research institutes on Thursday lowered their 2017 economic growth forecasts, citing slowing growth in the domestic economy.

In their latest economic forecasts, the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) and the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) both lowered their growth expectations for the coming year by 0.2 percent.

This takes the WIFO GDP growth forecast down to 1.5 percent, and that of the IHS down to 1.3 percent. The institutes have left their growth estimates for the full year 2016 unchanged, however, at 1.7 percent and 1.5 percent respectively.

Both said the downward revisions can be partly attributed to the positive effects that have come about from tax reform to begin winding down. Both private consumption and fixed investments that carried the improved 2016 growth rate are also to subside. The result will fall in with a slight cooling in economic growth across the eurozone.

Both institutes are additionally expecting increased inflation in 2017, from 1 percent (WIFO) and 0.9 percent (IHS) in the current year, to 1.7 percent and 1.6 percent respectively. Endit