Worst student of the class

Belgium, the country that is known for its beer, chocolate and fries looks like a thriving country to most of the outside world. But a better look at the finances and economic circumstances shows a devastating evolution.

This year Belgium has closed its budget with a record deficit of 33 billion EUR. Which brings the debt of Belgium to 128 % of the Gross Domestic Product. It has never been this high! 20 years ago, Belgium was below 95 % debt compared to the GDP. So things are going downhill quickly.

Ungovernable

The reason for that is quite simple, Belgium has 5 governments, one federal and 4 regional governments. With hundreds of ministers for a country of 11.8 million people. Those are all from almost 10 different political parties. Which make it impossible to get big restructuring through. Only compromises about very small things are made. And it won’t get better in the future, as in the Flemish region, extreme right is on the winning end for the elections of 2024 and the extreme left is winning in Wallonia. Again ungovernable together.

And it is quite necessary to get a decent government, Belgium has the highest taxation on labour of the world, almost 56 %! And in Wallonia only 65 % of people have a job… Structural problems that need a structural solution. But sadly, we will have to do it once again with tons of compromise but no decisions!

Sincerely,

Pele23