Central Bank Policy under Foreign Control

doi:10.1017/9781009367578.008

5 - Central Bank Policy under Foreign Control

The Austrian National Bank in the 1920s

from Part II - Specific

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 November 2023

Hans Kernbauer

Edited by

Barry Eichengreen and

Andreas Kakridis

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Barry Eichengreen: Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
Andreas Kakridis: Affiliation:
Bank of Greece and Panteion University, Athens

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Summary

The Bank of England and its governor, Montagu Norman, who had a decisive influence on monetary reconstruction after the First World War considered the new Austrian central bank too accommodating of Viennese banks, which clung to a prewar business strategy no longer appropriate to the economic environment. The fraught relationship between the Bank of England and the Austrian National Bank limited Austrian access to the London capital market. Thus, much-needed long-term capital for restructuring and modernizing of the Austrian economy was not available in the quantities needed, only short-term deposits that were not rolled-over after the outbreak of the financial crisis in 1931. Austrian National Bank President Reisch was replaced in 1932 by Viktor Kienböck, a former minister of finance who then masterminded Austrian economic policy until the German invasion in 1938. In accordance with the League of Nations, which guaranteed a second international bond of Austria in 1932, Kienböck adhered to the orthodox economic policy paradigm, rigorously defending the currency in the face of growing overvaluation. As a result, Austria’s economy shrank, and by 1937 its GDP stood 14% below its level of 1929.

Keywords

Austria hyperinflation financial reconstruction Central Bank of Austria League of Nations loans deficient economic policy bank failures Creditanstalt crisis

Type: Chapter
Information: The Spread of the Modern Central Bank and Global Cooperation
1919–1939
, pp. 105 - 138

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009367578.008 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2023

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