Britain in elite company with budget blues

The Pound Sterling will be under some pressure with the annouced budget and economy outlook. UK debt could reach 100% of GDP.

From the Telegraph - April 22, 2009

Britain’s budget deficit threatens to hit £175bn this year, or 12pc of GDP.That is just about the worst performance of any major country at any time in history, during peacetime.

Gordon Brown’s sin as Chancellor was to run a fiscal deficit of 3pc of GDP at the top of the long boom, when other countries were prudently using their windfall tax revenues to build a storm buffer. Many ran surpluses in 2007: Finland (+5.3pc), Denmark (+4.9pc), Sweden (+3.5pc), Spain (+2.2pc), Australia (+1.6pc) and Canada (+1.4pc). Germany was near balance.