BELGIUM has come out of the global financial crisis faster than the EURO area as
a whole, but high public debt and the need to anticipate the cost of its ageing
population require urgent fiscal consolidation, according to the OECD’s latest
Economic Survey of Belgium.
Reinforcing economic dynamism by improving
access to the labour market, particularly for young people and immigrants, is
also a priority, says the report. At the same time economic growth needs to
become greener. Belgium’s relatively weak environmental taxes should be
developed to improve growth prospects and living standards.
The report,
presented today in Brussels by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría in the
presence of Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme, states that Belgium suffered
only a relatively modest rise in unemployment during the crisis compared to
other OECD countries. Nonetheless, the debt-to-GDP ratio increased by a total of
12.5 percentage points to 97 percent of GDP, derailing plans to pre-fund future
financing needs.
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