GOVERNMENT debts in Europe have grown even bigger, official data revealed yesterday.
Average state debt in the European Union rose to the equivalent of 82.2 per cent of GDP in the third quarter of last year – up from 81.7 per cent at the end of the second quarter.
In the troubled Eurozone area, burdened by an ongoing debt crisis, debts are even higher. Average euro area state debt is the equivalent of 87.4 per cent of GDP, down slightly from 87.7 per cent.
“It’s nice for EU policymakers to say that things aren’t as bad as the US, but Washington still has market confidence and that cannot be said for all of Europe,” said ING’s Carsten Brzeski.
Yet there was better news for the continent in a separate report reflecting investor confidence.
The Sentix index of sentiment among investors in the Eurozone eased to a score of minus 11.1 this month, from minus 21.1 in January.
And the expectations element of the index improved by an even stronger degree, coming in at minus 6.3, up from minus 23.5 in January.
Meanwhile, private sector productivity in the EU has improved for the first time in six months, data from Markit showed.
The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) crept into positive territory, moving from 48.8 in December to 50.2 in January, showing that output per worker is now slightly growing.
