est rates would be raised to prevent a speculative bubble.
Conservative fiscal policies have kept Australia's budget in surplus
since 2002.

Austria
Austria, with its well-developed market economy and high
standard of living, is closely tied to other EU economies,
especially Germany's. The Austrian economy also benefits greatly
from strong commercial relations, especially in the banking and
insurance sectors, with central, eastern, and southeastern Europe.
The economy features a large service sector, a sound industrial
sector, and a small, but highly developed agricultural sector.
Membership in the EU has drawn an influx of foreign investors
attracted by Austria's access to the single European market and
proximity to the new EU economies. The outgoing government has
successfully pursued a comprehensive economic reform program, aimed
at streamlining government, creating a more competitive business
environment, further strengthening Austria's attractiveness as an
investment location, and implementing effective pension reforms;
however, lower taxes in 2005-2006 have lead to a small budget
deficit in 2006. Weak domestic consumption and slow growth in Europe
have held the economy to growth rates below 3% in 2002-05. Due to
higher growth across Europe, Austrian grew 3.3 percent in 2006. To
meet increased competition from both EU and Central European
countries, particularly the new EU members, Austria will need to
continue restructuring, emphasizing knowledge-based sectors of the
economy, and encouraging greater labor flexibility and greater labor
participation by its aging population.

Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan's number one export is oil. Azerbaijan's oil
production declined through 1997, but has registered an increase
every year since. Negotiation of production-sharing arrangements
(PSAs) with foreign firms, which have thus far committed $60 billion
to long-term oilfield development, should generate the funds needed
to spur future industrial development. Oil production under the
first of these PSAs, with the Azerbaijan International Operating
Company, began in November 1997. A consortium of Western oil
companies began pumping 1 million barrels a day from a large
offshore field in early 2006, through a $4 billion pipeline it built
from Baku to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. Economists
estimate that by 2010 revenues from this project will double