Savings plans in focus: Conference of country heads in the luxury Hotel Krallerhof

Savings plans in focus: Conference of country heads in the luxury Hotel Krallerhof

Wilfried Haslauer, Governor of Salzburg (ÖVP), has selected the five-star Hotel Krallerhof in Leogang as the venue for the upcoming conference of state leaders at the beginning of June. This conference aims to develop savings plans for the budget. The leaders of the federal government will also take part in the talks, including Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP), Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler (SPÖ) and Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger (NEOS). crown reported.

The Krallerhof is known for its exclusive facilities and offers participants a pleasant working environment. The conference will be complemented by special welcome gifts, including bouquets of flowers and bottles of Dom Perignon. There is also a spacious spa area that houses one of the largest collections by the artist Hermann Nitsch in Austria.

New stability pact in sight

The conference aims to negotiate a new stability pact that will unbundle financial flows between the federal, state and local governments. This is part of the broader budget consolidation effort. A first meeting on budget reconciliation recently took place at the Ministry of Finance, attended by representatives from the federal, state and local governments. These participants spoke out in favor of joint savings, while Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer (SPÖ) underlined the urgency of measures to deal with the current high budget deficit and increasing national debt.

Negotiations for the new stability pact are scheduled to begin at the end of May, with the aim of presenting a concept for the distribution of debt options by September. The current stability pact, which has been in effect since 2012, allows a national structural deficit of a maximum of 0.45% of GDP, with states and municipalities limited to 0.1% and the federal government limited to 0.35% mydistrict explained.

Preparing for big changes

The upcoming talks represent the largest budget restructuring project in Austrian history, which is scheduled to take effect until 2026. Wilfried Haslauer sees the states in a “two-stage task”: on the one hand, adjusting the budgets that have already been decided and, on the other hand, preparing new consolidation measures. He emphasizes that secure data is essential for the negotiations.

Finance State Secretary Barbara Eibinger-Miedl (ÖVP) also announced the creation of a “funding task force” that will review the efficiency of existing funding. NEOS State Secretary Josef Schellhorn calls for fundamental reforms and points to a savings potential of 15%. While the poor economic development leads to a higher deficit, community association president Johannes Pressl (ÖVP) shows the communities' willingness to take responsibility.