The widening in the current account deficit to more than 3% of GDP at the end of last year is no big concern. The US has been running deficits of more than 3% of GDP for most of the past dozen years and yet its net external liabilities are still only a muted 17% of GDP. In contrast, most of the crisis-hit peripheral countries in the euro-zone have net external liabilities in excess of 90% of GDP.
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