Debt Crisis: Merkel aids Ireland but warns Cameron Joerg Asmussen said on Monday it would be a "good idea" to have a European Monetary Commissioner with special rights. Yesterday fellow ECB policymaker Klaas Knot threw his support behind the German's idea. The Dutch man, whoi heads the Dutch Central Bank, said he "welcomed" the idea and said it should be considered "carefully." Wolfgang Schaeuble has called for a eurozone commissioner with power over European Union nations' budgets. 10.47 The eurozone and European Union's debt hit a high in 2011, according to official figures out by Eurostat. In the eurozone the government debt to GDP hit 87.3pc at the end of 2011, up from 85.4pc at the end of 2010, while the EU hit 82.5pc, up from 80pc. It's not all doom and gloom though as the figures also showed that government deficit in the eurozone and EU had decreased. In the EU it fell to 4.1pc in 2011, from 6.2pc in 2010 and in the EU it fell to 4.4pc, from 6.5pc. 10.30 The eurozone's largest economy, Germany, has published a report today saying that its economy will see a sharp slowdown at the end of the year. In the finance ministry report it said: In the final quarter of 2012, growth is likely to slow substantially as economic weakness in a number of eurozone countries puts the brakes on growth The forecast is backed up the drop in investor sentiment, as seen in the fifth consecutive monthly decrease in the ZEW's monthly confidence index. Germany notched up growth of 0.5 percent in the first quarter and 0.3 percent in the second quarter. Last week, the German government fractionally upgraded its growth forecast for the current year to 0.8 percent, but slashed its prognosis for next year to just 1.0 percent. 10.09 Meanwhile over in Greece, the prime minister Antonis Samaras has expelled lawmaker Nikos Stavrogiannis from his New Democracy party. Stavrogiannis had told Greek weekly newspaper Real News that he would vote against austerity measures that the government is preparing. His departure is spurring speculation that the debt-laden nation is closer to carrying out austerity measures. 09.50 Victory in Galicia for Rajoy's austerity measures has helped pushed the euro higher today. It is up 0.1pc at $1.3032 from a low of $1.3013 Meanwhile, the yen has been pushed to a three-month low against the dollar. The dollar rose around 0.4pc to 79.68 yen, its strongest since mid-July, on expectations for more economic stimulus from the Bank of Japan. Earlier today Japan posted its worst September trade figures in more than 30 years. 09.29 Yields on Spanish 10-year bonds have held steady following the two regional elections (see 08.15). Spanish 10-year bond yields weree 2.4 basis points higher at 5.4pc, having fallen around half a point last week after Moody's held its rating of the country as investment grade. Commenting on the win in Galicia for prime minster Mariano Rajoy, KBC strategist Piet Lammens said: