Budget minister denies that Brussels played down its debt for years
The Brussels government used a number of unconventional tactics in recent years to make its budget and debt figures appear more favourable than they actually were, according to an investigation by De Tijd and The Brussels Times. The region's Budget minister has dismissed the revelations as "unfounded allegations".
The media outlets examined Brussels' accounts and concluded that they "paint a picture of a debt burden that seems larger, and harder to sustain, than the Region acknowledges publicly," The Brussels Times wrote on Wednesday.
One finding was that Brussels had counted 825 million euros of undrawn and conditional investment support for metro works as liquidity. By including the credit lines from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) in its liquidity calculations, the region has artificially boosted its debt coverage ratio.
Brussels reported a lower debt figure for 2024 than the National Bank of Belgium
The Brussels government also presented a more favourable picture of its budget figures. When Brussels predicted a balanced budget by 2026 last year, its forecasts were based on 1 billion euros of measures that had not yet been decided upon, according to the investigation.
The investigation found that Brussels also reported a lower debt figure for 2024 — 15.02 billion euros — than the National Bank of Belgium, which reported 15.65 billion euros.
'Unfounded allegations'
The outgoing Brussels minister for Budget, Sven Gatz, described the revelations as "unfounded allegations" on Wednesday. All documents have always been shared with complete transparency, and "at no point has a more favourable picture been painted of the budget or debt figures," he said.
The articles make claims that are “not consistent with the facts”, according to Gatz, including “suggesting that the region uses a specific methodology to make the total debt appear smaller than it is”.
"In reality, the figures show that the region's calculations for 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 actually indicate higher debt than the National Bank's figures, despite using the same methodology that is now being questioned," he said.
Gatz added that reporting to financial partners and rating agencies had also been conducted with "complete transparency". "Both parties are fully aware that the EIB and CEB lines are linked to specific projects," he said.
'Misleading and unacceptable'
Opposition MPs have reacted sharply to the findings of the investigation. Gilles Verstraeten, an MP for the Flemish nationalist N-VA party in Brussels, said that the revelations prove the party's long-standing concerns about the budget were justified.
"Brussels has simply been destroyed by irresponsibility and self-deception."
"If the government is lying not only to the opposition, the press and the population, but also to all national and international control institutions and ultimately to itself, then we have reached the end times before the deluge," he said. "Brussels has simply been destroyed by irresponsibility and self-deception."
Benjamin Dalle, the Brussels MP for the Christian democratic party CD&V, said that both parliament and the people of Brussels had been misled by "doctored figures" regarding the true extent of the budget crisis.
Dalle called for an urgent debate on the issue. "This is not just sloppy budgetary policy — it is misleading accounting and unacceptable," he said.
On Friday, credit rating agency Moody's will issue a new rating of the Brussels capital region's creditworthiness. In June, rating agency S&P lowered its assessment of Brussels' creditworthiness from A+ to A.
Outgoing Brussels minister for Budget Sven Gatz © PHOTO BELGIAN_FREELANCE