Wealthy, modern, and resilient economy. Flexible labor and goods markets and moderate wage policies that support growth, competitiveness, and employment. Expected implementation of a clearly defined coherent and credible fiscal consolidation strategy. Discretionary loosening of past reforms. Large exposure of Austrian banks to Central and Eastern Europe, although the risk is currently limited. High and increasing level of general government and guaranteed debt. The ratings on the Republic of Austria are based on Standard&Poor's Ratings Services' view of the resilience of its competitive economy and our expectation that a clearly defined fiscal consolidation strategy will emerge in early 2010. The extremely strong capacity of Austria's federal government to service its financial obligations is in our view underpinned by
