Austerity is a set of economic policies implemented with the aim of reducing government budget deficits. Policies grouped under the term 'austerity measures' may include spending cuts, tax increases, or a mixture of both, and may be undertaken to demonstrate the government's fiscal discipline to creditors and credit rating agencies by bringing revenues closer to expenditures. Since government spending contributes to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), reducing the spending may result in a higher debt-to-GDP ratio, a key measure of a country's debt burden.