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Austrian economy with promising start to 2017: central bank

Xinhua, February 14, 2017 Adjust font size:

The Austrian economy is well-positioned to continue on its stable growth trend and will see a higher growth rate in the first half of 2017 than previously expected, the National Bank of Austria (ONB) said on Monday.

In its latest projection based on its own economic indicators, the central bank has increased its forecast for the current quarter by 0.1 percent, to 0.6 percent real GDP (gross domestic product) growth over the fourth quarter of 2016. It also anticipates the second-quarter growth to be 0.5 percent.

On a year-over-year basis, the growth is thus expected to be 1.9 percent and 2.1 percent in the first two quarters respectively, significantly higher rates than seen in recent years.

The central bank said the positive trend began last year thanks in most part to a boost in private consumption. The positive labor market situation is anticipated to further support this, despite an increase in inflation.

It also noted that investments, another major pillar of the upward growth trend particularly in the form of company equipment, had slowed through the course of 2016. An anticipated boost in exports will however compensate for this, meaning a continued positive outlook for the industrial sector, the bank said. Endit