Reports
Bank Holidays in Austria in the Year 2000
Calendar of Monetary and Economic Highlights 7
Economic Outlook for Austria from 1999 to 2001 Fall 1999
Money and Credit in the First Three Quarters of 1999
Balance of Payments in the First Half of 1999
Austrian Outward and Inward Direct Investment in 1997
Studies
1997 Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey
This study, which is based on the Analysis of the 1997 Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey and Plans for the Next Survey released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in January 2000, looks into portfolio holdings of nonresident long-term debt securities and focuses on a regional breakdown by creditor and issuing country. The 1997 Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey covers the portfolio holdings of 29 countries, including Austria, as at the reference date of December 31, 1997. This study investigates which instruments and which regions figured most prominently in EU, American and Asian-Pacific investors’ decisions. Investors clearly focused on the axis United Kingdom − U.S.A. − Japan. Also, the results of the 1997 CPIS are analyzed by relation to Austria’s holdings of nonresident portfolio assets as well as Austria’s external liabilities arising from securities.
Impact of the Recent Upturn in Crude Oil Prices on Inflation in Austria − A Comparison with Historic Supply Shocks
The macroeconomic costs of the oil shocks that hit Austria in the 1970s and the early 1980s were significant. Both oil shocks markedly dampened economic growth or even produced slight declines in real GDP. They caused job creation to decelerate or joblessness to rise. They stoked inflation by setting in motion a price-wage spiral, and they caused the current account balance to deteriorate strongly. Given the recent upturn in crude oil prices, it is of interest whether a situation will reemerge that is reminiscent of the effects of the historic supply shocks. In this regard, there are several important differences between the present environment and that which prevailed in the 1970s and early 1980s. Today, energy plays a comparatively lesser role in the production process as energy intensity has dropped significantly. The pass-through of oil price changes to inflation has, thus, diminished. The reduced responsiveness of prices to this type of supply shocks can, in addition, be ascribed to structural phenomena: Austria’s accession to the EU in 1995 has exposed businesses to greater international competition. This has created an environment where the pressure on businesses to cut costs and to enhance efficiency is much greater than before. Consequently, the recent upturn in crude oil prices is estimated to have no adverse effects on the economy as a whole, in contrast with the earlier two oil price shocks.
The opinions expressed in the section “Studies” are those of the individual authors and may differ from the views of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank.