The Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) endorses the government’s commitment to introduce a debt brake for Austria into its constitution as an important contribution to sustaining public finances and strengthening fiscal policy, stressed OeNB Governor Ewald Nowotny.
The fact that the proposed balanced-budget provision, which is modeled on Germany’s debt brake, will commit not only the federal government but also the regional and local governments is critical to its success. Governor Nowotny is calling on Austria’s governing and opposing parties to quickly adopt this constitutional law. This will help Austria to safeguard financial market confidence and, over the medium term, recapture fiscal flexibility.
In addition to putting the debt brake into law, it is imperative, so Nowotny, to swiftly embark on structural reforms to achieve sustainable fiscal consolidation and bolster economic growth.