Belgium's francophone Socialist Party (PS) wants to provide low and medium wage households with a €200 purchasing power check so they can spend money and help the economy pick up again.
"The Regions have allocated bonuses of €4,000-€5,000 to a range of companies and self-employed people," said PS leader in the House of Representatives Ahmed Laaouej in an interview with Belgian newspaper DH on Thursday. He acknowledged that these are essential measures, "but an economy works on two legs. We need households that can afford to buy their products and services," he explained.
Stimulating purchasing power would build confidence and thus be an element of economic recovery, in Laaouej's view. Some 3 million people could benefit, with a budget of some €600 million.
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The PS has also called for the temporary suspension of payments of consumer credits (personal debt taken on to purchase goods and services), and for the partial reimbursement of car insurance premiums, as there have been fewer cars on the road, and therefore fewer claims, as a result of the lockdown.
Measures to protect the economy taken by the federal government up until now will already cost the country over €10 billion, Finance Minister Alexander De Croo said earlier this week.
The Brussels Times
