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Debt clock of Portugal

Public debt and budget deficit under the Maastricht Treaty



24 April 2020



DebtClocks.eu relies on data that EU Member States report to Eurostat twice per year. The data are reported and published in so-called "EDP notification tables". These official tables include data on public debt, budget surplus/deficit and GDP, and cover statistics as well as forecasts. Due to the coronavirus crisis, however, several EU Member States did not provide forecasts for 2020 (e.g. Belgium, Italy, Spain). Other EU Member States reported decreasing public debt and a growing economy for 2020 (e.g. the Netherlands). In view of the magnitude of the coronavirus crisis this seems highly doubtful.



Even in normal times, debt clocks can never accurately show the current level of public debt. Debt clocks rather illustrate an approximate trend for changes in public debt. Yet, in times like the coronavirus pandemic, debt clocks can hardly cope with the quickly changing macroeconomic situation. Therefore, it is currently not possible to accurately update the debt clocks on DebtClocks.eu. After pondering the pros and cons, I decided that no debt clocks are better than completely incorrect debt clocks. This website's goal was always to provide reliable information rather than misinformation.



Therefore, at least for now, I'm forced to pause my project DebtClocks.eu. Sorry!



Andreas Burth









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Contact

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Andreas Burth

andreas.burth@debtclocks.eu