The Belgian government will manage carefully the financial returns expected from its reforms, Budget Minister Vincent Van Peteghem said on Tuesday at a parliamentary committee session, and if goals are not met, additional measures will be taken.
However, in its assessment of the 2025 budget and the multi-year budget forecast, the Court of Audit criticised the anticipated returns from the government’s reforms.
The administration of Prime Minister Bart De Wever expects €8 billion from job creation and subsequent spending reductions, but the Court described these projections as “heavily overestimated.”
A consultant who testified last week before the committee suggested that it would be wise to disregard these anticipated returns entirely.
“This is excessive fiscal conservatism,” responded Van Peteghem, noting that the previous government had also accounted for financial returns in its calculations.
While the European Commission acknowledged that the projected effects by the Belgian Government were optimistic, it did not reject them while evaluating Belgium’s budget plan.
The government aims to achieve an employment rate of 78% by 2029, the end of the legislative term. According to the minister, this target is “achievable” but will require substantial effort. He said a critical evaluation would be done with each budget preparation.
Belgium’s governing coalition has set itself the goal of improving public finances, currently under European scrutiny for an excessively high budget deficit.
The European Commission has permitted this corrective effort to be done over seven years instead of four. More than one legislative term will be necessary to balance the accounts.
Reducing the budget deficit to 3% of the GDP is just an initial step.
“Eventually, we must aim for a significantly lower deficit,” Mr Van Peteghem emphasised.
