However, the lockdown that has just ended has put a damper on the recovery – the OECD has therefore revised its growth forecast for 2021 downwards from 4.1 to 3.7 percent. In the coming year, growth should accelerate to 4.9 percent. The forecast for 2022 does not include the possible effects of the Omikron variant, emphasized the Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mathias Cormann, to journalists in Vienna on Monday.
Measured in terms of economic output, Austria has a higher level of debt than comparable countries, said Cormann, which is why the country needs a consolidation strategy in the medium term. The OECD does not recommend turning off corona aid overnight, but you need a medium-term plan.
One must also compensate for the aging of the population by bringing more women and migrants into employment. The employment rate of women in Austria is only 50 percent, the EU average is 65 percent.
Austria’s climate goals are more ambitious than those of other countries, but the CO2 intensity has not decreased in recent years. The eco-social tax reform is an important step forward, said Cormann.
Source: Nachrichten
