Austria’s economic troubles are showing signs of waning. If the forecasts come to fruition, the country’s exchange traded fund (ETF) could stand to benefit more than it already has so far this year.

The Bank Austria stated that its business indicator is pointing to improvement in the business environment as the indicator rose to 1.2 in July from a negative 2.1 in June, reports RTT News. The Austrian economy is expected to expand 0.3% in the third quarter, but may see a full-year contraction of 3.5% in 2009.

The aforementioned doesn’t mean that Austria is completely in the clear:

• The Austrian retail market continues to be in a slowdown
• As has been seen throughout the world, manufacturing took a hit as the nation announced decreases in demand
• Austria relies heavily on the German auto industry as it is a major supplier of auto parts; with the decline in demand for German luxury cars, Austria’s economy has suffered
• Unemployment is expected to reach nearly 9% next year, up from the 7.7% that it’s expected to hit this year.  To make it even worse, the unemployment rate is expected to continue to increase and not see any sign of relief until 2013.

To gain exposure to Austria, take a look at the iShares MSCI Austria Investable Mkt Idx (EWO) which is up 60.9% year-to-date.

For more stories on Austria, visit our Austria category.

Kevin Grewal contributed to this article.

Tags: Emerging Europe, Emerging Markets, Europe, EWO, Global ETFs