| Zusammenfassung: | In the course of the 1990s, Austria's balance on current account has steadily deteriorated. Beginning the decade in equilibrium, the current account posted a deficit of 1¾ percent of GDP in 1996 and 1997. The deterioration was mainly a result of the plunge in the surplus of travel services from 3½ percent of GDP in 1991 to ¾ percent of GDP in 1997. The relatively high deficit in the trade account showed only minor changes in the 1990s which could not offset the drastic deterioration in the tourism balance. Moreover, since 1995, the transfer balance has been weighed down by substantial net payments to the EU. In 1997, the growth in the current account deficit appears to have been arrested, a result primarily due to weak domestic demand and the trend reversal in foreign exchange rates. Yet, in an international comparison, the situation remains bleak: Austria places third to last among all EU countries, ranking just ahead of Portugal and Greece.
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