expected to persist through this year . Italy -- hit with a two-notch downgrade -- is actually expected to structurally balance its 2012 budget . `` Excessive '' deficits are thus unlikely to be the root cause of the problem -LRB- at least apart from Greece -RRB- . The motivation for the downgrades given by Standard & Poor 's actually cites the excessive attention given to fiscal austerity as one principal reason for the downgrading of a whole swath of euroland . Greek debt talks to resume So why the downgrade ? Is there really such a lack of capital that the remaining deficits , which look modest in comparison to other developed countries , can not be financed ? The answer is surely no . There are enough savings within the monetary union area to finance all public deficits of the eurozone 's members . This is because euro area savers are usually loath to invest in foreign currency ; and most regulated intermediaries such as investment fund have little choice but to invest in government securities in euro . Further , Europe 's investment funds and insurance companies can not all put their money in a bank account
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- It has now been certified officially : Germany is special , at least in the eyes of ratings agency Standard & Poor 's . According to Standard & Poor 's , Germany is the only country in the eurozone which still deserves the prized AAA rating with a stable outlook . Nine other countries , together accounting for more than half the euro area 's GDP , were downgraded at least one notch . Given that these countries also provide more than half of the financing of the eurozone bail out fund -LRB- the European Financial Stability Facility -RRB- it was only logical that this institution also lost its AAA rating . One could be tempted , following the downgrades , to conclude that most euro countries just can not get their fiscal houses in order . But the opposite is closer to reality . The average fiscal deficit for the euro area was only about 4 % of GDP in 2011 . This is projected to fall to about 3 % in 2012 . This is much lower than the double digit figures for the U.S. and UK fiscal deficits for 2011 , which are