ING, the only bank to respond to the Walloon Region’s appeal for support of the so called "Oxygène plan" has refused to finance seven struggling cities.
Other banks did not submit any offer at all for this plan, according to L’Écho.
Consequently, the Walloon government must now find a new source of funding for the hundreds of millions of euros needed for the 2024 budget.
The Oxygène plan aims to aid 28 currently struggling Walloon municipalities.
The Walloon Region, through the Regional Aid Centre for Municipalities (Crac), had planned originally to borrow €350 million from banks in 2024.
ING being the sole respondent, has agreed to fund only €82 million. The bank has also set conditions and refused to finance certain cities in particularly bad state.
In addition to Liège and Charleroi, which were already excluded in 2023, Mons, Ath, Namur, La Louvière, and Verviers have now also added to the exclusion list.
The Walloon Region now needs to find €268 million to balance its planned budget.
