Eurozone budget deficits rise nearly tenfold to counter pandemic

The total budget deficit of the 19 Eurozone countries will increase ten times this year compared to the previous year and reach 976 billion euros, or 8.9% of GDP, due to the adoption of emergency measures to counter the crisis triggered by the new coronavirus pandemic.

Financial Times newspaper informed referring to the documents published on the European Commission's website, Report says.

According to the European Central Bank, the Eurozone deficit's previous peak was at the beginning of 2010, when this figure rose to 6.6% of GDP. At that time, this caused concern among investors and worsened the financial situation in the Euro area.

In the current situation, according to Marco Valli, one of UniCredit's leading economists, "Governments have no choice but to keep spending all that's needed to support their economies and reduce long-term damage."

As previously stated by the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Paolo Gentiloni, the Eurozone's recession caused by the pandemic is a threat to the monetary Union. The downturn is even more profound than expected, and the differences in the economic development of the Eurozone countries are becoming more significant, he said.