Real GDP growth is expected to slow to 2.6 percent in 2001, following four consecutive years of strong economic growth. A number of structural labor market measures have also been introduced, including an employment program for youth, reforms to encourage employment among older people, and...

Measuring the size of the underground economy is obviously a difficult task. This paper reviews the literature, as applied to Belgium and elsewhere, on the determinants of the gray economy. The methods that have been used to measure the size of the gray economy are also discussed. The estimates...

This paper discusses the Observance of Standards and Codes and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) in Belgium. In Belgium, the financial intelligence unit (CTIF-CFI) has noted a shift in money laundering...

Long-term issues continue to dominate the economic policy agenda. The economy is expected to grow at a moderate pace. The challenge from aging is becoming more pressing, calling for sustained fiscal consolidation. The elaboration of a medium-term fiscal framework based on expenditure growth...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes fiscal devolution in Belgium. It examines long-term fiscal strategies for meeting the fiscal burden of population aging. The paper presents estimates of the fiscal costs of population aging in Belgium, and discusses their sensitivity to underlying assumptions....

This 2002 Article IV Consultation highlights that Belgium’s real GDP growth fell sharply in 2001 to 0.8 percent and remained weak in 2002 at an estimated 0.7 percent. The fundamental factor behind these developments was the slowdown in the economies of Belgium’s trading partners, especially...

This Selected Issues paper focuses on the fiscal challenge for Belgium in coping with population aging, including the sustainability of prevailing fiscal federalism arrangements across all levels of governments. The analysis demonstrates that the current strategy of upfront consolidation is...

To better respond to a new set of concerns of the population and promote sustainable development, governments today actively seek a broad partnership with civil society and the private sector. Yet, it is at local and regional levels, closer to the problems and the individuals, that partnerships...

Belgium’s impressive past fiscal consolidation is an example for other countries that need to bring down their public debt and also provides insights on how best to address its own current fiscal challenges. Belgium has a unique history of a long and successful large fiscal consolidation....