The OeNB’s Foreign Research Division analyzes economic developments in countries other than Austria, with a geographical focus on Western Europe and the euro area as well as on Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. In its analysis of global trends, the Foreign Research Division also regularly monitors other economic regions, such as the U.S.A., Asia and the CIS.
The country analysts within the division present their expertise on these countries and economic areas in analytical papers, through their research activities in national and international expert committees, and in OeNB publications like Monetary Policy and the Economy and the OeNB’s Financial Stability Report as well as external economic journals. Moreover, the Foreign Research Division is responsible for coordinating the content and publication of the OeNB publication Focus on European Economic Integration. The division draws up semiannual economic forecasts for the most important Central and Eastern European countries and Russia, which are also used as external assumptions for Eurosystem projections.
Every year, the Foreign Research Division hosts a Conference on European Economic Integration (formerly: East-West Conference) in the fall; it also organizes quarterly East Jour Fixe meetings and provides a CEEC Research Platform at ceec.oenb.at. In addition, the division is responsible for coordinating the OeNB’s technical cooperation with CEE and CIS central banks as well as for representation and coordination in connection with the Joint Vienna Institute (JVI), a Vienna-based training center for experts from Central and Eastern European transition countries.
The Foreign Research Division also incorporates the OeNB Language Services, which, among other things, provides translations of OeNB publications, maintains an online database on central banking terminology (dictionary.oenb.at) and is actively involved in translating ECB publications into German.