Since the crisis, the fiscal balance has shifted to a deficit, with a peak of 5.5 percent of GDP in 2009; however, the Netherlands managed to  1  The data used in this speech cover the period up to June 6, 2012. 2  Here, I refer to Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Finland as the core countries.
All these countries enjoy current account surpluses and a very high-grade credit rating on their sovereign bonds. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  reduce that to 4.6 percent by 2011. Owing to the continued fiscal deficit, the sovereign debt to GDP ratio has risen to 65.2 percent, though this is well below the euro-area average of 88 percent.