VRANITZKY'S MISSION TO REFORM
Franz Vranitzky is the third finance minister in Austria in the
last five years. Unlike his predecessors, the charismatic Hannes
Androsch, or the unfortunate Herbert Salcher, Vranitzky is a
determinedly uncontroversial figure. Yet he has done more in the last
16 months of his office than his predecessors were able to do,
revitalizing the Vienna Borse and making equity investments a growing
part of Austrian capital formation. He has cut taxes; he has moved
decisively to tackle the budget deficit. Above all, he has remained in
public favour even while disquiet is growing over Voest Alpine and
government subsidies for nationalized industries.
He began his term of office auspiciously in 1984, by cutting from
7.5 to 5% a special tax on interest income. The tax, a revenue-raising
measure, had been introduced earlier that year by Salcher and is levied
in addition to income tax. Austrian...
