Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prévot (Les Engagés) fears that the target of reducing the federal budget deficit to 3% of GDP by 2030 is "excessive" and threatens to undermine the competitiveness of businesses and household consumption.
The Federal Government must reach an agreement on the 2026 budget by mid-October. This is the coalition's first full-year budget exercise, and it promises to be a difficult task: the figures are anything but rosy.
"From my point of view, maintaining 3% as a target seems excessive today. We are asking for a little flexibility, for example, until 2032. Why? That would require a cumulative effort of €18 billion, which seems difficult to sustain," Prévot said on Francophone radio on Thursday.
"We must not lose sight of the competitiveness of our companies and household consumption," he added.
Generate revenue without affecting working people
Meanwhile, the leader of the Francophone liberal MR party Georges-Louis Bouchez already indicated that he wants to continue with substantial restructuring through new savings, and the new leader of Flemish nationalist N-VA, Valerie Van Peel, confirmed on Sunday that a deficit of 3% of GDP should remain the target.
Speaking on behalf of Flemish socialists Vooruit, Deputy Prime Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said that his party is willing to go along with putting the budget in order, provided that it is done fairly, although he did not want to put a figure on it.
Prévot is not ruling out any options to get public finances in order, whether it be additional spending cuts, new loans/debt accumulation or new revenue. "There are creative ways to generate revenue without affecting working people," said Prévot.
