Flemish employers' organization Voka warns for "very realistic risk of recession"

Flemish companies still expect significant price increases in the coming months. This is the conclusion of a new survey by Flemish employers' organization Voka. The combination of increasing supply problems and spectacularly rising costs for energy, raw materials and wages is putting the brakes on our economy. "The chance of a recession in the coming months is becoming very real", warns Voka.

In a survey conducted at the beginning of this week among 600 Flemish companies, 86 percent indicate that their supplies are currently disrupted. Input costs are now 41 percent higher than six months ago. And companies expect input costs to rise by another 33 percent in the coming months. As a result, companies expect their selling prices to rise by another 10 percent on average in the coming months. In the past six months, their selling prices have already increased by an average of 12.5 percent. 

"This will have a major impact on the economy and this after the COVID-19 crisis that has not yet been fully digested. We run the risk of ending up in a recession. Voka calls on the federal social partners and the government to meet up and talk. Measures must be taken now to curb wage increases and the inflationary spiral," says Hans Maertens, managing director of Voka.

© BELGA PHOTO PHILIPPE FRANCOIS - Illustration picture shows the Voka logo, on Tuesday 11 April 2017, in Gent.