Page 18 - Economic report 2020

OFFICIAL INTEREST RATES IN THE USA AND EUROZONE - As %
Chart 1.5

USA Eurozone
Source: Federal Reserve and ECB.

sovereign and private debt-purchasing programme approved during the pandemic (for a total
amount of 1.85 billion euros), and in July 2022, the Asset Purchase Programme (APP) ended,
which had been implemented during the 2010 sovereign debt crisis.

Public finances were strongly affected by the 2020 pandemic and, since then, have corrected
gradually. The public debt has gone from a maximum of 7.1% of GDP in 2020 to 3.6% in 2022.
The reduction in the deficit that occurred in
the last year is the result of the decreasing The Eurozone public deficit continued
GDP percentage of expenses (from 52.6% to
16 to moderate to 3.6% of GDP.
50.8%), as income shrank slightly (from 47.3%
to 47.1%). The Eurozone countries with the
highest public deficits (above 4%) are: Italy, Malta, Spain, France and Latvia. Remember than the
European Commission has extended the suspension of fiscal rules setting a limit of 3% on
the public deficit until 2024, since the priority is to continue supporting the recovery in growth.

In 2021 and until the autumn of 2022, the euro followed a downward trend in comparison with
the dollar. The dollar/euro exchange rate fell below parity in September and October 2022. This
External environment of the Andorran economy | I. International economy
weakness in the European currency is largely due to the differences between the monetary
policies of the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, and also the search for a safe
haven asset (the dollar) in times of economic uncertainty. With the start of the armed conflict,

$/€ EXCHANGE RATES
Chart 1.6

Source: ECB.