Belgium will not return to its pre-Coronavirus crisis level of public debt until 2031, according to credit insurer Euler Hermes’ study of eurozone countries' public debt.
The support measures adopted by governments in the wake of the coronavirus crisis have significantly weighed on public finances across the euro area in 2020.
With major disparities between countries, the study found that seven eurozone members (Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Cyprus, France and Belgium) now have debt ratios close to or above 120% of GDP, or double the Maastricht stability criterion.
The credit insurer, a subsidiary of insurance giant Allianz, believes that a return of public debt to pre-crisis levels “is clearly not feasible by 2035 for most eurozone countries,” unless the eurozone's heavyweights register significant increases in GDP growth.
Euler Hermes expects Italy to take 26 years to return to pre-Covid debt levels, France 67 years and Spain 89 years.
Among the better off nations are Germany and the Netherlands, who need only seven years to return to their pre-crisis debt levels, according to the credit insurer.
Belgium isn’t among the worst, according to the credit insurer's forecasts, with a return to its pre-crisis situation within a decade.
The Brussels Times
