Austria

Government is planning to freeze inflation-linked increases in family allowances from 2026 to 2027, following an austerity package to curb the rising deficit, suspending a key policy introduced in 2023 that helped benefits keep pace with rising prices

The European Investment Bank has granted Energie AG Oberösterreich a financing package of up to €400 million for the expansion of hydropower in Austria

In 2024, for the first time in sixteen years, Austria's trade balance was in surplus, with imports lowernthan exports, according to figures provided on Friday by Statistics Austria

After more than 40 years, the deposit for reusable glass bottles has been increased earlier this month from 9 cents (previously 1,2 Schillings) to 20 cents; brewery products are the most commonly sold in glass bottles

With the start of the tendering process for online casino licences, online gambling operators expect an end to the decades-long gambling monopoly and the opening of the online market

According to data from Austrian Wine Marketing Board, the wine exports in 2024 are expected to decrease from the previous year's record figures; for the first 9 months of 2024, export sales registered -5,1% in value to €175,3 million

The liberal party NEOS announced the abandonment of negotiations to form a coalition government together with the centre-right People's Party and the centre-left Social Democratic Party; in September the extreme right failed to form a coalition government

The Austrian Cultural Forum in Beijing and the Austrian Embassy in China recently opened an art exhibition in Beijing entitled Vienna Calling

The government has initiated an economic support programme for Syrian nationals in Austria who want to return to their country, which mainly consists in the delivery of 1000 euros in cash and practical advice and assistance

The Austrian statistical office reported that the country's GDP contracted for the sixth consecutive quarter in the July-September period, continuing the recessive trend that began in Q2 2023

Austria has experienced an early winter surprise as a cold front swept across the country, bringing snow to both mountainous and lowland areas; passes in Tyrol that had been closed for some hours due to heavy snowfall have been reopened

A group of Jewish students on Friday prevented the first speaker of Austria's far-right parliament from laying a wreath at the Holocaust memorial, accusing him of 'spitting in the face of our ancestors'