The worst of the economic crisis is over but overall growth is still weak, European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny told Austrian newspaper Die Presse.
Nowotny, who heads Austria's central bank, said the problems have been shifted to the real economy, unemployment is rising and there is a danger of an increase in company credit defaults.
He said the economy may take another two to three years to log positive growth rates.
On Friday, the Austria Institute of Economic Research said the Austrian economy expanded 0.4% sequentially in the fourth quarter, in line with the initial estimate released on February 12. Economic growth eased slightly from the prior quarter's 0.5% increase.
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