Visit of the The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW)

WIIW is one of the principle centres for research on Central, East and Southeast Europe with worldwide recognition.

After one year of negative impacts on the worldwide economy such as the pandemic, supply chain difficulties and the Russian war against Ukraine we had another possibility in October 2023 to visit WIIW, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies.

The Executive Director of WIIW, Dr. Mario Holzner, gave us an overview on the current economic situation and outlook concerning Central, East and Southeast Europe. In his speech he pointed out to the high inflation situation in a number of European countries. Especially the high costs for gas purchases and the rising prices for food were the drivers. Only recently the prices were falling again for these commodities. However the core inflation remained as wages went up and continue to do so. Another driver is the high level of rates of interest. In several countries such as Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary real wages declined despite of higher salaries. Due to high interest rates and credit squeeze borrowings became more difficult and costly. The WIIW expects the continuation of high inflation and low economic growth also due to the unclear war situation. The uncertainty concerning the development of oil and gas prices prevails. Dr Mario Holzner presented in his slides comparisons between the countries of Central-, East- and Southeast Europe. The declining production in Germany may effect the main suppliers to the German industry such as the car industry. He sees the Austrian and Czech industry more robust than the Hungarian and Slovak one due to their substantial dependence on car manufacturing. Foreign Direct Investment is weak for the time being. Another problem is the decline of population, mainly the young employable population  due to migration. Especially countries in southeastern Europe are heavily affected.

Dr. Mario Holzner is coordinating economic policy development and communication with a focus on European economic policy. He has recently worked on issues of infrastructure investment in greater Europe. Furthermore he is also a lecturer in applied econometrics at the University of Vienna, Department of Economics.

WIIW is one of the principle centres for research on Central, East and Southeast Europe with worldwide recognition. In the Global Go To Think Tank Report of the University of Pennsylvania WIIW was elected twice to 3rd position in a worldwide comparison of Think Tanks after Bruegel (Belgium) and Brookings Institution (USA).

Its thematic work is focused on macroeconomic developments and structural change, international economics, labour markets and social issues, as well as on selected issues related to sectoral and regional economic developments. Thus it is the Austrian think tank for first-hand expertise on Central, East and Southeast Europe, as well as the Balkans with international highly skilled professionals mainly from the countries they are specialized on.