| Painful budget cuts and tax increases haven’t eased government debt burdens in Greece, Portugal, Ireland and some other European countries. Still, the interest rates on some long-term European government bonds have fallen. That’s lowered borrowing costs for those nations. |
| GROSS GOVERNMENT DEBT AS % OF GDP LONG-TERM BOND YIELD |
| Ranking 2011 Q3 Chg in % from Year Earlier Ranking Jan ’12 Chg in % from Year Earlier |
| 1 Greece 159.1 Greece 20.3 1 Greece 25.9 Greece 14.2 |
| 2 Italy 119.6 Portugal 19.0 2 Portugal 13.9 Portugal 6.4 |
| 3 Portugal 110.1 Ireland 16.5 3 Ireland 7.7 Italy 0.9 |
| 4 Ireland 104.9 Spain 7.3 4 Italy 6.5 Spain -0.5 |
| 5 Belgium 98.5 Germany 6.1 5 Poland 5.7 France -0.6 |
| 6 U.S. 97.5 U.K. 6.0 6 Spain 5.4 Austria -0.6 |
| 7 France 85.2 Denmark 4.8 7 Belgium 4.1 Belgium -0.8 |
| 8 Germany 81.8 U.S. 4.6 8 Austria 3.3 Poland -0.8 |
| 9 U.K. 80.0 France 3.2 9 France 3.2 Ireland -1.0 |
| 10 Austria 71.6 Netherlands 1.4 10 Finland 2.3 Finland -1.0 |
| 11 Spain 66.0 Poland 0.9 11 Netherlands 2.2 Netherlands -1.1 |
| 12 Netherlands 64.5 Italy 0.5 12 Norway 2.0 Germany -1.2 |
| 13 Poland 56.3 Finland 0.2 13 U.S. 1.9 Denmark -1.3 |
| 14 Denmark 49.3 Austria -0.3 14 Germany 1.8 U.S. -1.4 |
| 15 Finland 47.2 Belgium -0.3 15 Denmark 1.7 U.K. -1.5 |
| 16 Norway 39.0 Sweden -1.6 16 Sweden 1.7 Sweden -1.5 |
| 17 Sweden 37.0 Norway -4.5 17 U.K. 1.5 Norway -1.5 |