Standard & Poor's named the countries that are most exposed to a potential UK exit from the EU. They are Ireland, Malta, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Norway.
To evaluate the potential risks, S&P introduced its Brexit Sensitivity Index (BSI), which measures goods and services exports to the UK compared to these economies' domestic GDP, bidirectional migrant flows, financial sector claims on UK, and foreign direct investment in the UK.
Each indicator is scored from 0 to 1, and the index is the sum of these estimates.
As a result, Ireland has 3.5, Malta is 2.9, Luxembourg is 2.4, Cyprus is 2.3, Switzerland is 2, Belgium is 1.6, while that of the Netherlands, Spain and Norway are 1.5, 1.5 and 1, respectively.
A referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU will take place on June 23.
Previously, David Cameron said that leaving the EU would detonate a bomb under the British economy. “And the worst thing is we’d have lit the fuse ourselves,” he added.
According to White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jason Furman, the withdrawal from the EU will hurt not only the UK economy, but also Europe and the whole world.
