Ireland’s budget deficits grew sharply after it guaranteed the bad loans of the country’s biggest banks. In November, European officials agreed to a bailout nearly as large as the one Greece received.
But austerity measures are unpopular. Large protests have taken place not only in Greece and Ireland, but also in Britain, Portugal and Romania.
Protesters gather during a rally in Athens to protest against the government's tough austerity program.
Other nations facing big deficits and slow economic growth are also seeing their borrowing costs rise. Credit rating agencies are warning about the debts of Portugal and Spain and others may follow.
In May, European leaders agreed to set aside nearly seven hundred billion dollars to help troubled countries in the area. But the chief of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, says a more organized approach is needed.
DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN: “Europe has to provide, the euro zone has to provide, a comprehensive solution to this problem. The piecemeal approach, one country after the other one, is not a good one.”
This could mean “austerity” will remain a top word for two thousand eleven.
And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I’m Steve Ember.
Contributing: Mil Arcega, Philip Alexiou
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2013-11-25
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