Christopher Mc Innes

FRANKFURT (MNI) - Inflation is already on its way to reaching the European Central Bank's target and President Mario Draghi expressed confidence in comments today that it would get there. In a Q&A session in Frankfurt with school students, Draghi said slow wage growth, the main drag on inflation according to the ECB, is probably only due to temporary factors and should pick up as economic growth strengthens.

Austria’s parliamentary elections, to be held on 15 October, are expected to yield a right-leaning majority that could deliver the Chancellorship to Sebastian Kurz, chairman of the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and currently the Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs in the coalition government headed by Christian Kern. Kern is also the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ).

According to detailed data released by the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) on 25 September, the economy continued to grow strongly in Q2, coming in just below Q1’s six-year high. GDP increased a seasonally-adjusted 0.8% quarter-on-quarter, slightly below Q1’s similarly impressive expansion, which was upwardly revised to 0.9% (previously reported: +0.8% qoq), and in line with the first estimate released at the end of July.