Austrian Economy Buoyant at Year-End 2007 – Current Surveys Indicate Slowdown

The Austrian economy grew at a seasonally and working day adjusted rate of 0.7 percent in real terms quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2007. The growth rate for the year 2007 as a whole was 3.4 percent in real terms. Export-oriented production, without exception a mainstay of economic activity, still expanded at a vigorous pace also at year-end. The developments of order volumes in the first quarter of 2008 suggest a slowdown in industrial activity, however. Exchange rate fluctuations in international financial markets increase the uncertainties surrounding the outlook for the economy, and, coupled with accelerated consumer price inflation dampen consumer confidence.