Belgium's ten-year interest rate rose to 3% on Thursday, for the second time in just over two months.
The last time the rate topped the symbolic 3% threshold was on 21 October.
In early December, the rate had fallen to 2.3%, its lowest point in months.
The rise in secondary market interest rates is a general trend linked to the announcement last week by the European Central Bank (ECB) that more interest rate hikes are in store as inflation is expected to remain above 2% for a long time.
Higher long-term interest rates make borrowing more expensive, home loans in particular. They are bad news for the State when it needs to raise money on financial markets.
The rise in interest rates has been very fast. It was only in March 2022 that Belgium's 10-year rate rose above 1%.
At the end of 2020, the rate was negative for some time, sinking to an absolute low of -0.440% in November of that year.
