European governments will need to borrow a record €2,200bn ($3,100bn) from capital markets this year to finance budget deficits.
The projected borrowing is a 3.7 per cent increase on the €2,120bn raised in 2009, according to Fitch Ratings, as governments continue to issue sovereign bonds and short-term bills.
This will put pressure on public finances as yields and volatility are set to rise.
The ratings agency said France would be the biggest issuer this year, raising an estimated €454bn, then Italy at €393bn, Germany at €386bn and the UK at €279bn.
As a percentage of gross domestic product, borrowing is expected to be the largest in Italy, Belgium, France and Ireland - at about 25 per cent.
Fitch warned over a rise in issuance of short-term Treasury bills in France, Germany, Spain and Portugal, "as it increases market risk faced by governments, notably exposure to interest rate shocks".
Fitch said 2010 was likely to see greater volatility as the liquidity premium enjoyed by sovereign issuers diminished as the recovery gathered pace.
This meant a material risk of a rise in government funding costs as yields rose.
"Combined with concerns over the medium-term fiscal and inflation outlook, this will likely cause government bond yields to rise, potentially quite sharply."
But Fitch said high-grade sovereigns would not have problems accessing markets, though they would have to pay higher rates.
It said one of the most striking developments was the scale of deterioration in public finances, with every European country in budgetary deficit and four with deficits of more than 12 per cent of GDP.
"This reflects not only the cyclical effect of the recession and the discretionary easing of fiscal policy but also deterioration in the underlying health of the public finances," it said.
"Although debt markets have not imposed binding funding restraints on European governments, relative pricing is much more dispersed between countries since the onset of the financial crisis. This trend will continue."
Source: FT.com