France, Germany and Italy will this year exceed the public deficit target qualifying countries for participation in the European single currency from 1999, the OECD said yesterday.

The Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development (OECD) said the three countries were all facing deficits of 3.2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year. The limit set by the European Union's Maastricht agreements is 3.0 per cent.

While Germany and France will clear the hurdle next year, with budget deficits projected at respectively 3.0 per cent and 2.7 per cent, OECD projections indicated that Italy's deficit may rebound in 1998 to 3.8 per cent, way above the target.