Dr. Robert Sweeney:

My understanding of what applies to that member state is that net expenditure should not exceed the potential growth rate of output. Under the current fiscal rules, there is a net expenditure rule that states net expenditure should not exceed the growth in potential output of the economy. The November 2022 statement did not refer to that, or at least downplayed it, shall we say. It seems that has been brought back in. If a country is exceeding 60% debt, its net expenditure cannot exceed the growth in potential output of the economy. That is likely to freeze government spending as a share of GDP, absent increases in taxation.