More cuts needed to balance Flemish budget by 2027, minister says
Documents submitted to Parliament estimate that the Flemish budget will not return to balance by 2027. Despite the 1.5 billion euros in austerity measures that the government agreed upon in September, Budget minister Ben Weyts says more cuts will be needed to balance the region's budget.
The documents estimate that Flanders' 2026 budget will post a deficit of around 1.7 billion euros. In 2027, it would decline to 682 million euros, or around 1.5 billion euros when large infrastructure projects such as the Oosterweel Link and recovery expenditure are taken into account. The deficit is then expected to rise again, to over 1.5 billion euros by the end of the government's legislature in 2029.
This means further budget cuts will be necessary if the Flemish government wants to balance the region's books. Finance and Budget minister Ben Weyts told Belga on Monday that the Flemish government would need to introduce a second round of austerity measures to reach a balanced budget by 2027. "More cuts will be needed. The accounts have to be set in order," he said.
Debt burden expands
At the same time, Flanders’ debt burden continues to expand. The regional debt is forecast to grow to 56.6 billion euros in 2026, more than 5 billion euros higher than the current year. By the end of the legislative term, the total could approach 70 billion euros.
A notable change in the latest budget documents concerns the way this debt is being presented. Traditionally, government debt is expressed as a percentage of revenue. Using that method, Flanders’ debt ratio would rise from 85 per cent to 93 per cent next year and exceed 100 per cent by the end of the term.
However, the government has now opted to compare debt to the region’s gross regional product, the total value of goods and services produced in Flanders. This results in a far lower figure, with the debt ratio dropping to 14.5 per cent by 2026.
Critics in the opposition argue that the change complicates comparisons with previous years and could obscure the true evolution of public debt. According to the government, however, Flanders now simply uses the same method as is done for Belgian public debt.
According to Weyts, the revised methodology provides a more meaningful comparison with Belgium and better reflects the scale of the Flemish economy: "We are no longer comparing apples and oranges when it comes to comparing Belgium's and Flanders' public debt."
#FlandersNewsService | Flemish Finance and Budget minister Ben Weyts © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK
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