One of the main causes of the currency crisis in the eurozone is that virtually all countries involved have breached their own self-imposed rules.
Under the convergence criteria adopted as part of economic and monetary union, government debt must not exceed 60% of GDP at the end of the fiscal year. Likewise, the annual government deficit must not exceed 3% of GDP. However, as the maps show, only two of the 16 eurozone countries - Luxembourg and Finland - have managed to stick to both rules.
Overall, Greece is the worst offender, with debt at 115.1% of GDP and a deficit of 13.6% of GDP. But among the bigger economies, Italy's debt is even higher than Greece's as a percentage of GDP, while Spain's deficit is 11.2% of GDP. If the UK were in the eurozone, it would also fall foul of the criteria, with its debt now standing at 68.1% of GDP and its deficit at 11.5% of GDP.
| Total debt (% GDP) | Total debt (€ m) | 2009 deficit (% GDP) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 115.8 | 1,760,765 | 5.3 |
| Greece | 115.1 | 273,407 | 13.6 |
| Belgium | 96.7 | 326,606 | 6.0 |
| France | 77.6 | 1,489,025 | 7.5 |
| Portugal | 76.8 | 125,910 | 9.4 |
| Germany | 73.2 | 1,762,211 | 3.3 |
| Malta | 69.1 | 3,948 | 3.8 |
| UK | 68.1 | 1,067,819 | 11.5 |
| Austria | 66.5 | 184,105 | 3.4 |
| Ireland | 64 | 104,667 | 14.3 |
| Netherlands | 60.9 | 347,021 | 5.3 |
| Cyprus | 56.2 | 9,527 | 6.1 |
| Spain | 53.2 | 559,650 | 11.2 |
| Finland | 44 | 75,217 | 2.2 |
| Slovenia | 35.9 | 12,519 | 5.5 |
| Slovakia | 35.7 | 22,585 | 6.8 |
| Luxembourg | 14.5 | 5,464 | 0.7 |
One of the main causes of the currency crisis in the eurozone is that virtually all countries involved have breached their own self-imposed rules.
Under the convergence criteria adopted as part of economic and monetary union, government debt must not exceed 60% of GDP at the end of the fiscal year. Likewise, the annual government deficit must not exceed 3% of GDP. However, as the maps show, only two of the 16 eurozone countries - Luxembourg and Finland - have managed to stick to both rules.
Overall, Greece is the worst offender, with debt at 115.1% of GDP and a deficit of 13.6% of GDP. But among the bigger economies, Italy's debt is even higher than Greece's as a percentage of GDP, while Spain's deficit is 11.2% of GDP. If the UK were in the eurozone, it would also fall foul of the criteria, with its debt now standing at 68.1% of GDP and its deficit at 11.5% of GDP.
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