As Austria runs up a budget deficit in order to support employment and keep companies afloat by providing liquidity, economists say the timing couldn’t be better. The Federal Finance Agency (OeBFA) says that it in order to pay off billions in loans it took out years ago it will secure new lending. But it will be able to do so at far more advantageous rates. The rate on the old loans that come due this year and next year carried an interest rate of 3.9 percent. This forced the country to shell out €600m per year on interest payments alone. At the moment, says the OeFBA, it should be able to refinance the old loans at a trifling 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent on a ten-year term. This should work out to annual interest payments of just €30m.
