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EU Sees 12 Govts On Track To Meet Deficit Targets

16 June 2010 02:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The European Commission Tuesday said Germany, Spain, Portugal and nine other European Union governments are on track to meet their budget deficit targets for 2010, APA reports quoting online.wsj.com website.
The commission, the EU’s executive arm, also sought reviews of Finland, Denmark and Cyprus for breaking the 27-nation bloc’s budget rules, which call for countries to keep their deficits below 3% of gross domestic product.
The economic stimulus plans pursued by EU governments over the past year have swelled most of their budget deficits above the 3% limit. The commission has previously said the budget rules allow national governments to exceed this limit temporarily to cope with economic emergencies, and it has extended deadlines for fixing shortfalls when it became clear that the economic crisis would make meeting them impossible.
Now, in the aftermath of the EUR110 billion bailout of Greece, the commission is urging national governments to cut their deficits quickly to avoid losing market confidence. Spain and Portugal in particular, are facing large deficits in the coming years, prompting those governments to pursue aggressive deficit-cutting plans.
"The current budgetary targets, including the revised targets of Spain and Portugal, appear to ensure an appropriate overall fiscal stance for the EU, but there is an evident need to advance more forcefully on the structural agenda," European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a statement.