The Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) is the central bank of Austria and, as such, an integral part of both the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the Eurozone. In the public interest, the Oesterreichische Nationalbank contributes to monetary and economic policy decision-making in Austria and in the Euro area. In line with the Federal Act on the Oesterreichische Nationalbank, the OeNB is a stock corporation. Given its status as a central bank, it is, however, governed by a number of special provisions, as laid down in the Nationalbank Act. The OeNB's capital totals €12 million and is held by a sole shareholder, the federal government. The shareholder rights of the federal government are exercised by the Minister of Finance. Since May 2010, this capital is entirely held by the Austrian state. Previously half of the capital was in the hands of employer and employee organizations as well as banks and insurance corporations.
Abstract Österreich wies in den letzten Jahren eine der niedrigsten BIP-Wachstumsraten in Europa auf. Seit Mitte 2022 sind entstehungs- und verwendungsseitig die Wachstumsbeiträge aller größeren Komponenten negativ. Die schwache Entwicklung der Exporte sowie der Sachgütererzeugung dürften unter anderem auf steigende Energiepreise und hohe Lohnabschlüsse zurückzuführen sein. Bemerkenswert ist der leichte Rückgang des privaten Konsums, weil die realen Haushaltseinkommen sich deutlich besser entwickelten. Dieser Anstieg der Sparquote könnte durch eine vertrauensbildende Fiskalpolitik zumindest teilweise rückgängig gemacht werden. Bezüglich einer Anhebung der zuletzt schwachen Wohnbauinvestitionen wären angesichts der schwierigen budgetären Lage regulatorische Erleichterungen denkbar.
Die österreichische Industrie ist aufgrund der wirtschaftlichen Bedeutung energieintensiver Branchen durch den Energiemix in wichtigen, nicht-energieintensiven Branchen und die hohe Persistenz in der Nutzung spezifischer Energieträger für Energiepreisschocks anfällig. Die Entwicklung der Energiepreise in den vergangenen Jahren hat eine Verschlechterung der preislichen Wettbewerbsfähigkeit in mehreren Branchen nach sich gezogen. Die Verfügbarkeit von Energie zu wettbewerbsfähigen Preisen ist daher ein wichtiger Erfolgsfaktor für den österreichischen Industriestandort.
It has been widely documented that households experience different inflation rates which are generally concealed in aggregate price indices. Using scanner data from a large household panel for Austria, we analyse price dynamics faced by individual households and try to explain the causes for the observed inflation differences. Considering not only consumption shares but also the specific product prices paid by households, we find a considerable and persistent degree of heterogeneity among household inflation rates. These are also quite variable over time, resulting from varying consumption baskets and active product substitution, allowing households to reduce their inflation exposure substantially. Factors like age and shopping behavior of households explain some of the inflation differences, whereas income does not seem to have a notable influence in normal times. However, during high inflation periods, the lowest income group is found to face higher inflation rates than other income groups.
This paper documents five stylised facts relating to price adjustment in the euro area, using various micro price datasets collected in a period with relatively low and stable inflation. First, price changes are infrequent in the core sectors. On average, 12% of consumer prices change each month, falling to 8.5% when sales prices are excluded. The frequency of producer price adjustment is greater (25%), reflecting that the prices of intermediate goods and energy are more flexible. For both consumer and producer prices, cross-sectoral heterogeneity is more pronounced than cross-country heterogeneity. Second, price changes tend to be large and heterogeneous. For consumer prices, the typical absolute price change is about 10%, and the distribution of price changes shows a broad dispersion. For producer prices, the typical absolute price change is smaller, but nevertheless larger than inflation. Third, price setting is mildly state-dependent: the probability of price adjustment rises with the size of price misalignment, mainly reflecting idiosyncratic shocks, but it does not increase very sharply. Fourth, for both consumer and producer prices, the repricing rate showed no trend in the period 2005-19 but was more volatile in the short run. Fifth, small cyclical variations in frequency did not contribute much to fluctuations in aggregate inflation, which instead mainly reflected shifts in the average size of price changes. Consistent with idiosyncratic shocks as the main driver of price changes, aggregate disturbances affected inflation by shifting the relative number of firms increasing or decreasing their prices, rather than the size of price increases and decreases.
