He claims that he did not want to be Prime Minister of Belgium but he is now at the foot of the wall: the Flemish nationalist Bart de Wever sees the bad news rains, the latest of which was, Friday, June 13, the deterioration of his country's note by the Fitch Financial Agency, one of the three major world rating agencies. Passed from AA – to A + with “a stable perspective”, this note, the worst ever granted to the country, could deteriorate its borrowing conditions in the markets. It testifies above all to generalized skepticism as to the means chosen by the so -called “Arizona” coalition, which brings together five parties, to reduce the deficit of the country. Mr. de Wever intends to bring it back to less than 3 % while it was 4.5 %-or 27.7 billion euros-in mid-April and should reach 4.9 % at the end of the year according to the European Commission.
In recent weeks the Court of Auditors, the Federal Office of the Plan and the National Bank of Belgium had already sounded the alarm, deeming insufficient the measures envisaged by the coalition, while it is forced to consider in particular a massive increase in its expenses for the defense or the revival of nuclear. Analysts also emit doubts about the impact of certain government projects, such as an increase in the 20-64 year old employment rate. It is currently 72.6 % (66.8 % in Wallonia). The coalition intends to bring it to 80 % by 2027, which, according to her, could bring it 8 billion euros.
While the most pessimistic scenarios count on a deficit of 45 billion euros by 2029, or even 60 billion if it is a question of meeting all the requirements of NATO, M. de Wever has two options: massively reducing spending or increasing taxes, while Belgium is already the world champion of tax pressure on wages, as confirmed, in May, the latest report of OEC. These are “Maintain the flowing boat on the surface”, The Prime Minister said to the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday, June 12, adding in front of the cameras: “ We have no margin, we will be in a very, very difficult situation in the coming years ”.
You have 56.96% of this article to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
Source: Lemonde