AFAQ NEWS
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the eurozone economy has been significant, according to the European Central Bank (ECB), increasing the underlying financial vulnerabilities of the euro area.
The ECB’s May 2020 Financial Stability Review suggests that the euro governments’ vast fiscal response to the pandemic could raise questions over their ability to repay debts, and could revive the threat of countries leaving the single currency.
“Should measures taken at the national or European level be deemed insufficient to preserve debt sustainability, the market assessment of redenomination risk might rise further,” the ECB said.
“Redenomination risk” refers to the danger of some countries quitting the euro or the single currency collapsing altogether.
According to ECB estimates, eurozone public debt as a share of output will grow by between seven and 22 percentage points in 2020, as governments borrow hundreds of billions of euros to support their economies. That has pushed the total debt-to-GDP ratio of the region from 86 percent to almost 103 percent.
Usually, eurozone countries target public debt below 60 percent, but that boundary has been suspended during the coronavirus crisis.
However, the ECB stressed that government spending “has softened the impact, and is expected to support economic recovery.”
“The pandemic has caused one of the sharpest economic contractions in recent history, but wide-ranging policy measures have averted a financial meltdown,” said ECB’s Vice-President Luis de Guindos.
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