The seasonally adjusted general government deficit decreased by 0.6 percentage points in the euro area and 0.4 percentage points in the European Union in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the previous quarter, to 0.5% and 0.6% of GDP respectively, according to figures published by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) on Wednesday 31 July.
Government deficit, which had increased between the third and fourth quarters of 2018, is therefore now on a downward trend (see...