The issues of assuring public debt sustainability and the impact of tax and budgetary policies on it were the subject of numerous studies both at national and international level, with complex approaches in the specific literature. Debt sustainability is al so important because of the need to ensure long term sustainability of public finances in the context of risk factors represented by rising longevity, falling fertility rates and the retirement of the baby boom generation (European Commission, 2006). In this context we find important to investigate the sustainable gap of public debt over 1990-2005 and the public indebtedness path over 2050 in EMU member states.

public debt, fiscal balance, primary balance, sustainability