Government debt as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to decline in 2011, when revenue is expected to increase in the wake of an economic recovery, the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) said Tuesday. In fiscal 2009, government debt accounted for 40.1 percent of the country's GDP, up from 35.5 percent in 2008 and 34 percent in 2007, CEPD officials said. The increase is attributable to the economic downturn as a result of the global financial crisis, the officials said. They said that although the ratio is much lower than the average of 91.6 percent among member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) , the government should not take the situation lightly, because the government has posted a fiscal deficit for three consecutive years. The deficit for fiscal 2009 is equivalent to 4 percent of GDP, up from 0.9 percent in 2008 and 0.4 percent in 2007, the officials added. 