Köppl-Turyna: Household consolidation requires brave structural reforms!

Köppl-Turyna: Household consolidation requires brave structural reforms!

Vienna, Österreich - The director of Ecoaustria, Monika Köppl-Turyna, published alarming insights into the budget situation in Austria in a conversation with the APA. According to her, there is enormous consolidation potential, especially in the area of the pensions, where it calls for an adjustment under the inflation rate. "The need for consolidation cannot be carried out without further structural reforms," she emphasizes. Up to 5 billion euros are to be generated by 2026 through the measures, with half of the half of the pension sector. A comprehensive waiver of waiver in the event of services could help stabilize the finances, says Köppl-Turyna. Your reasoning is underpinned by an "Policy Note" created by Ecoaustria, which analyzes the effects of possible consolidation measures.

Criticism of current austerity measures

Köppl-Turyna makes it clear that expenditure-related consolidation measures, such as the abolition of educational leave and a stopping the indexing of family and social policy achievements, have a higher prospect of success than tax cuts or increases. "After other measures do not apply, revenue -side should only be taken as a 'Ultima ratio'," said the director. At the same time, she sees the need for structural reforms in areas such as public administration, health and education to achieve efficiency gains. She explains that Austria has an "expensive system" that rely more on repairs instead of prevention.

While public debt increases to almost 400 billion euros, it is skeptical about the cancellation of climate -damaging subsidies, as these could increase operating costs for companies. By June 2024, the debt rate has increased to 83 percent of the gross domestic product and continues to move away from the Maastricht limit of 60 percent, such as Kleine Zeitung . This underlines the urgency to restore the financial stability of the country with the help of consolidation measures and targeted savings.