Eurostat to up four EU members' deficits from 2007

Eurostat confirmed on Monday it will revise up, from April 2007, budget balance and public debt figures for Denmark, Hungary, Poland and Sweden, which have reformed their pension systems.
Eurostat said in a statement that from that date the four countries would no longer be allowed to exclude the costs of their pension system reforms from the figures.
The statement buried the hopes of Hungary and Poland that the European Union's statistical office would change its mind, allowing the two EU newcomers to report lower deficits and helping their efforts to join the eurozone. Under eurozone entry criteria, an EU member needs to cut its budget deficit to below 3 percent of gross domestic product in a sustainable way.