According to the report “Country Report Belgium November 2009” available at http://www.reportbuyer.com/
* The Economist Intelligence Unit expects the government, consisting of the Flemish and francophone Christian Democrats and Liberals and the francophone Socialists, to serve its full term until 2011.
* The success of two right-wing, populist parties in Flanders in the regional elections in June 2009 will cause the mainstream Flemish parties to adopt a hardline stance on devolution, making a compromise agreement difficult.
* The electorate is more concerned about economic issues, but tensions between Flanders and Wallonia might be stoked over the issue of the budget deficit or the Brussels-Halle-
* The government has implemented a recovery package agreed in early 2009, but we expect the fiscal stimulus element of the package to go partly into reverse in 2010 as the government focuses instead on fiscal consolidation.
* After rising sharply to an estimated 6% of GDP in 2009, we expect the budget deficit to rise further to 6.6% of GDP in 2010, before narrowing to 5.5% of GDP in 2011.
* After contracting sharply in 2009, we forecast that domestic and foreign demand will both resume moderate growth in 2010-11, underpinning GDP growth of 0.8% in 2010 and 1.3% in 2011.
The report “Country Report Belgium November 2009” is available from Report Buyer at:
http://www.reportbuyer.com/
Report Buyer product ID: EIU00938
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