LONDON (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) June 13, 2000--Standard&Poor's today affirmed its triple-'A' long-term issuer credit and senior unsecured and its 'A-1'-plus short-term issuer credit and commercial paper ratings on the Republic of Austria. The outlook is stable. Austria's ratings are supported by its modern, diverse, and internationally competitive economy, and the government's strong commitment to sound domestic policies, notably fiscal consolidation and structural reforms. Austria's economy is closely linked to the core EU economies both cyclically and structurally. GDP growth broadly follows the eurozone average, but is higher than that of Germany. Real GDP is forecast to grow by 3.1% this year and 2.7% next year. Strong employment growth is expected to reduce unemployment to between 3.0%-3.5% in
