Deficit pledge from EU finance ministers

European Union finance ministers have pledged to begin cutting budget deficits once their economies start growing again, but they could not say when that might be.

At a meeting in Luxembourg the ministers from the 27 European Union countries also agreed no more stimulus spending is needed for now.

There was not much progress on increased supervision of banks and the wider financial industry.

On that the Czech Finance Minister Eduard Janota said: “The situation is difficult. At times of crisis, it is necessary to coordinate the approaches of national coordinators with a pan-European approach. We must avoid the situation which gave rise to the crisis.”

In terms of economic growth, the latest European Commission forecast is that the economy of the euro zone and wider EU will shrink by four percent this year in the deepest recession since World War Two.

With fear of job losses still curbing spending, EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said Europe’s economy may start growing again next year.

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tags: Ecofin, European Union