Austria has the room to heed the ECB’s call for some governments to provide fiscal stimulus as economic growth slows, the country’s outgoing central bank Governor Ewald Nowotny said.

“We have a balanced budget, or even a small surplus,” Nowotny said. “That’s a positive development, but it can’t be a goal in itself. If it’s economically necessary, this leeway should be used.”

Nowotny, whose term expires Aug. 31, won’t be at the table when the ECB’s Governing Council discusses potential monetary stimulus at next month’s meeting. But the word of the professor and former Social Democratic lawmaker still matters in domestic politics as the Alpine nation heads toward a snap national election on Sept. 29.