The Finance and Budget Committee of the House approved the federal budget for 2025 on Wednesday, which is set to come into effect on 1 July, following the cessation of the provisional twelfths mechanism applied since the start of the year.
The budget was passed with a majority and is described as a "transitional" budget by Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem, as the government will not begin reducing the deficit this year, and some decisions from the Easter Agreement will only take effect in 2026.
In 2024, the deficit was 2.8% of GDP. This year, for the federal authority and social security, it is expected to reach 4% of GDP, or €25.5 billion, with 3.6% nominal expenditure growth.
This figure includes additional defence spending from the Easter Agreement, which may be excluded from the budget according to European regulations. Without these expenses, the deficit would be 3.6%, or €22.7 billion.
In 2025, the debt ratio is expected to increase by 1.5 percentage points of GDP, reaching 84.2% of GDP.
From 2026 to 2027, the government plans to limit nominal expenditure growth to 2.5%, and to 2.1% in 2028 and 2029.
The European Commission approved Belgium’s multi-year budget plan in late May, granting a seven-year period for the nation to stabilise its public finances. Strict expenditure growth constraints are intended to bring the deficit below the 3% threshold by 2029.
However, the Court of Audit has cautioned against overestimating the return effects of reforms implemented by the Arizona coalition.
