Yet, as the fiscal framework was not strictly enforced, the two benefits were reversed: a number of governments either did not have the fiscal space to absorb the shock they faced in the early stage of the crisis (consider Belgium or Italy); or they were unable to maintain the  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  trust of the market while doing so (consider Portugal or Ireland).
Fiscal policy in these countries therefore had to switch from providing a counter-cyclical buffer to convincing investors of debt sustainability. Under these circumstances, it was unavoidable that fiscal consolidation was front-loaded. But it also meant that fiscal policy changed from being a tailwind to a headwind, and added to the drag coming from deleveraging across the private sector.