Britain's deficit third worst in the world, table

Britain has one of the worst deficits as a percentage of GDP in the world, according to OECD figures. Only Iceland and Greece have higher deficits and experts fear it could overtake Greece. Here is a table of how the UK compares with other nations.

19 February 2010 • 10:00am

	Deficit as a % of GDP
Iceland	15.7
Greece	12.7
Britain	12.6
Ireland	12.2
United States	11.2
Spain	9.6
France	8.2
Japan	7.4
Portugal	6.7
Canada	4.8
Australia	4
Germany	3.2

* Figures from OCED forecast in November 2009.

Of Britain's defict, Ross Walker, chief economist at RBS, said: "What do you expect when you run a deficit even during the boom years."

He pointed to Australia which had run surpluses until recently when went the government increased borrowing to stimulate the economy during the global downturn creating a manageable deficit.

"That's the way it should be done," he said.

More than 60 leading economists, including MPC members and Nobel Laureates Robert Solow and Prof Joseph Stiglitz, have written letters in the Financial Times in support of the Government's plan to delay public spending cuts until 2011.

It was in response to an earlier letter at the weekend by a group of economists urging the implementation of a medium-term plan to cut Britain’s deficit.

Mr Walker said there were grounds for concern about Britain's public finances. He said he fell in the camp urging a credible policy in the medium term.

"The Government needs to deliver something upfront," he said, such as raising VAT to possibly as high as 20pc.