Belgian government reaches budget deal but planned 3-day strike to go ahead
The Belgian government on Monday reached an agreement on its budget for next year after months of tense negotiations, Prime Minister Bart De Wever said.
De Wever earlier this month set a Christmas deadline for his bickering five-party coalition to reach a deal, after they continued to disagree on how to repair government finances.
Agreement was reached during marathon talks that started on Sunday morning and went until early on Monday.
The deal includes tax hikes on share purchases, airplane tickets and natural gas and a new tax on banks, financial daily De Tijd reported.
Together with cuts in government spending, this should lower the government deficit by 9.2 billion euros ($10.6 billion) by 2029.
The budget deficit of the euro zone’s sixth-largest economy is set to hit 4.5% of gross domestic product this year, with debt of 104.7% of GDP, according to the central bank – well above the maximum agreed under EU budget rules.
The deal will not avert a three-day national strike against earlier announced reforms to the pension system, starting on Monday.
The strike is set to severely impact train and air traffic. Brussels airport last week scrapped all departing flights on Wednesday as its security and handling staff will participate in the strike.