As Italy prepares to sign off its austerity budget, Channel 4 News looks at the countries in Europe facing the most pain from spending cuts and tax rises.
Italy‘s upper house of Parliament passed the 48bn euro austerity package on Thursday, and its lower house is expected to do the same on Friday. It will then pass into law.
Markets have been unnerved by a public debt level in Italy that is among the highest in the world at 120 percent of gross domestic product. The latest economic package from the Italian Government is aimed at calming these fears.
Many other countries across Europe have been forced into similar steps to get their economies back on track.
The Channel 4 News graphic, left, looks at the relative amounts of pain countries across Europe are feeling as they attempt to recover from the economic crisis.
And if this looks bleak, Italy’s Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti is warning that it could get much worse. He believes that not even Europe’s strongest economies would be spared the repercussions of the unravelling sovereign debt crisis sweeping the region.
“No-one should have any illusions of individual salvation. Just like on the Titanic, not even the first class passengers will be saved,” he said.