AUSTRIA THE CO-OPERATIVES FACE TOUGHER TIMES Austria's
century-old co-operative banking sector grew faster than competing
state-owned and private banking groups last year. However, the impact
of a tough new federal banking law could turn the tables in the decade
ahead.
The Raiffeisen sector, with its core of nine regional credit
co-operative networks, outstripped all other banking groups in 1985 in
the growth of credit, savings and total deposits. The co-operative
sector boosted its market share to 18% fro7 17.6% in lending activity
with an expansion of 10.9%. The sector simultaneously hiked its market
share to 25.5% from 25.1% last year with an 8.4% jump in savings
deposits. The co-operatives' market share in building society
deposits also expanded in 1985 to 34.9% from 34.7%.
Nevertheless, the dramatic balance sheet growth, that has been a
feature of Austrian banking since the system was liberalized...
