Austria announces 6 bln euro package to address cost-of-living crisis

Austria's conservative-led government on Tuesday announced a package of measures, which it said would cost six billion euros ($6.3 billion) this year, aimed at cushioning the blow to households of the rising cost of living.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer told a news conference the measures included increasing various benefits as well as eliminating the so-called "cold progression" by which taxpayers often slide into higher income-tax brackets since the brackets tend not to change while wages tend to rise with inflation. ($1 = 0.9582 euros)