Belgium's right-wing federal and French-speaking governments are projected to face a €43 billion deficit by 2029, despite promising to balance their budgets, according to figures released by the Parti Socialiste on Friday.
PS party leader Paul Magnette, along with faction leaders Pierre-Yves Dermagne and Christie Morreale, criticised the governments' budget performance during a presentation of research and data from their party's think tank, Institut Vandervelde.
It became evident last week that meeting the federal budget deficit target of under 3% of GDP by the end of the legislative period poses significant challenges for the administration of Prime Minister Bart De Wever, which took office three months ago.
Dermagne, who heads the PS faction in the federal parliament, pointed out that the federal deficit for 2025 is €5 billion higher than previously estimated by the Monitoring Committee.
Revenue is projected to double inexplicably between 2028 and 2029, he noted, adding that, similarly, a €5-billion budget improvement is suddenly expected between 2029 and 2030 to meet the EU’s 3%-of-GDP deficit limit.
Moreover, the budget relies on unchanged debt-servicing payments, despite rising debt levels. Some expenditures are not indexed, even though indexing is required for certain expenses. Additionally, there is significant uncertainty around the financing of various budgets, including Defence.
The PS claims there is no fiscal roadmap in Wallonia. Three fiscal reforms, namely on inheritance tax, registration fees, and the introduction of electric vehicles, which favour the wealthiest, will strain the region's budget by €672 million, the party notes, pointing out that this will increase the deficit by €77 million this year.
Lastly, Morreale notes that the French-speaking community will witness rising deficit, despite €110 million in savings.
