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Eurozone in crisis

2010-05-26 05:20:29

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.