2023-04-21 16:53:41
Spain is one more year at the head of the countries of the European Union (EU) in debt and public deficit. The country closed 2022 with a deficit of 4.8% of GDP, according to data published this Friday by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), which places it as the fifth power with the largest budget gap in the bloc, only behind Italy, Romania, Hungary and Malta. All in all, the country has achieved a significant reduction in the deficit compared to 2021, with an improvement of 2.1 points.
The Eurostat publication takes on greater importance after Brussels’ announcement that next spring, 2024, it will put an end to the relaxation of fiscal rules that it activated during the pandemic. More specifically, the European Commission plans to reopen procedures against those Member States that present an excessive public deficit and asks European countries to prepare stability programs to contain debt and deficit below 3% and 60% of their GDP , respectively.
The measures to alleviate the impact of high energy prices had an impact on government budgets, “which caused the majority of Member States to register public deficits,” notes Eurostat. Thus, in the fourth quarter of 2022, the total public deficit in the Eurozone remained at 4.7% and in the EU at 4.5%. Some European countries posted surpluses, including Denmark (3.3%), Cyprus (2.1%) and Ireland (1.6%).
On the other hand, the public debt of the euro area fell slightly to 91.6% in the fourth quarter of the year, compared to the 93% registered in the previous quarter. The highest debt ratios were concentrated in Greece, where it rose to 171.3% of its GDP, Italy (144.4%), Portugal (113.9%) and Spain (113.2%). All in all, the data at the national level represents a slight reduction in Spanish debt, which closed 2021 at 118.3%.
On the other side of the coin, the EU countries with the most healthy accounts were Estonia (18.4%), Bulgaria (22.9%), Luxembourg (24.6%) and Denmark (30.1%). .
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