At the end of last year, Belgium was in the running to register the highest level of government budget deficit in the European Union.
After all the countries submitted their projections and Belgian deficit predictions fell slightly, Belgium made it into the third spot, surpassed by Bulgaria and Slovakia, De Tijd reports.
Belgium's budget deficit was predicted to stand at 5.9% of the GDP, meaning €33.6 billion. This is partly due to the aid packages that the state provided in the context of the energy crisis, to households and businesses. The new 2023 forecast, revised in the latest stability programme, evaluates the deficit at 5.1% of the GDP, which accounts for €29 billion.
The €4,6 billion decrease is attributed to lower inflation and lower energy prices, De Tijd reports.
In the European Union, Bulgaria is the worst-off country, with deficit making up 6.4% of the GDP. Slovakia takes second place in the EU (but ranks first in the Eurozone) with a deficit that adds up to 6.3% of the country's GDP.
In response, Sander Loones, MP from the Flemish nationalist party N-VA, said that these two countries "have been in crisis for months and do not have a full-fledged government," claiming that the Belgian budget figures are "catastrophic".
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Budget State Secretary Alexia Bertrand, of the centre-right Open-VLD party, considers that the government is on the right track. According to the stability programme, net government lending is projected to fall to 2.9% of the GDP in three years.
The stability programmes show that the energy crisis has hit many European nations. Germany will be in the red by 4.2% this year, Austria by 3.2% and the Netherlands by 3%.
