Belgium a 'quasi peripheral' as debt pressures mount: Ignis

Belgium's bond yields relative to the continent's benchmark Germany are rising at the fastest rate in the eurozone as the country struggles to fight its huge debt burden.

The yield premium on Belgium 10-year government bonds over equivalent German bunds has climbed 41% to 90 basis points from 3 September, Bloomberg reveals. Belguim, which is experiencing prolonged political instability, has Europe's third-largest debt problem. The country's debt was 97% of GDP in 2009 - compared with 64% in Ireland, 115% in Greece, 53% in Spain, 77% in Portugal and 116% in Italy, according to EU data. "Because of its debt level, Belgium becomes a quasi peripheral," Ignis manager and chief economist Stuart Thomson says. "Belgium isn't able to reduce its deficit through ...