Exports of goods as the driver of business activity are losing steam, and the impulse to private consumption from the tax reform has not yet taken full effect. Yet, together with the tax reform, the marked deceleration of inflation is boosting private purchasing power, suggesting more substantial gains in private consumption for the second half of this year. In the last two months, the business surveys for the euro area have also given hope for some strengthening of the current lacklustre business activity. For Austria, the latest survey results do not show a clear trend.