While measures in Austria and abroad have been introduced to stabilise financial markets, further financial-sector support might be needed to deal quickly with downside risks should they materialise. Income maintenance should continue to be administered with a view to protect workers rather than jobs and in conjunction with schemes improving their longer-term employability. Nevertheless helping maintain existing jobs for a limited duration can be helpful in the current state of the crisis.
Beyond the ongoing crisis, the economy will need to be put on a stronger growth path, and to regain the ground lost over the past decade vis-à-vis better-performing economies.