Belgian labour cost handicap approaches 2 percent

The labour cost handicap in Belgium is approaching 1,9 percent, newspaper L'Echo reported on Friday on the basis of a report by the Central Economic Council on the macroeconomic situation and inflation.

According to L'Echo, the report was submitted to the Group of Ten, a group consisting of the main negotiators of the Belgian federal social partners such as employers and trade unions, in order to provide more clarity about the impact of inflation on wages. The wage cost handicap, which indicates the difference between the expected evolution of Belgian wages and those in neighbouring countries, now reaches 1,9 per cent, L'Echo learned from a "reliable source".

At the beginning of this year, the Central Economic Council was still counting on 1,2 per cent. The rise in inflation in recent months has led to an automatic indexation of wages in Belgium, however, so the this figure has risen.

Salaries in Belgium are, by law, indexed automatically to adjust for inflation and the cost of living.

(BRV)

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