At the beginning of 2011, the recovery phase seen in the global economy over the past two years reached a degree of maturity. Activity in the various economic regions should gradually progress from being export-led to become more broadly based. At the same time, the improvement in the economic...

The backdrop to the forecasting exercise paints a contrasting picture : the initial situation of the projections appears slightly more favourable than in the previous forecast exercise of autumn 2005, with the Belgian economy displaying undoubted momentum at the beginning of 2006. However, a...

Coinciding with the publication in the ECB monthly bulletin of new Eurosystem projections for the euro area, this article presents the results for the Belgian economy for 2008 and 2009. Since the previous forecasts were published in December 2007, the deterioration in the external factors has...

Since the projections published in December 2006, the international environment has remained buoyant. GDP growth in the euro area, which proved stronger than previously expected over the last months, should keep going at a solid pace in 2007. In Belgium, economic activity has been particularly...

Twice a year, in June and December, the National Bank of Belgium publishes the macroeconomic projections for the Belgian economy for the current and the following year. The current projections cover the years 2005 and 2006. These projections make up the national component of the broad...

The particularly rapid acceleration in inflation in Belgium and the fact that it is currently outpacing inflation in the euro area has, in some circles, raised questions as to the role of the indexation mechanism. A first question which might arise concerns the extent to which that mechanism...

In light of an increased transparency, the National Bank of Belgium has decided to publish twice a year, in June and December, the macroeconomic projections for the Belgian economy for the current and the following year. These projections represent the national part from the broad macroeconomic...

The global economic recovery which had begun in mid 2009 has continued, though its strength has varied from one region to another. The emerging economies have been the driving force, propelling the revival of international trade. The upturn is more gradual in the advanced economies, as is...

Twice a year, in June and December, the National Bank of Belgium publishes macroeconomic projections for the Belgian economy for the current and the following year. These projections make up the national component of the broad macroeconomic projection exercise conducted within the Eurosystem ;...

The total macroeconomic costs of the payment instruments used in the points of sale can be estimated to be 2.034 million euros, or 0.74 p.c. of Belgian GDP in 2003. The payment costs arising from cash were 0.58 p.c. of GDP, compared to 0.11 p.c. for debit cards, 0.04 p.c. for credit cards and...