Euro-Area Countries Failed Fiscal Goals 57% of Time, Data Show

Euro-area governments breached their own fiscal rules more than half of the time since they began trading the single currency, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.

With Greece’s debt crisis now exposing the weakness of fiscal oversight in the 16-nation economy, governments missed one or both of the European Union’s two budget requirements 57 percent of the time since they adopted the euro. Those rules limit debt to 60 percent of gross domestic product and budget deficits to 3 percent of GDP, as set out in the 1997 Stability and Growth Pact.