The difficulties concerning integration into the labour market of people of foreign origin are of crucial importance in Belgium, especially as immigrants represent 14 % of the resident population, one of the largest proportions in the EU. While the employment rate of European immigrants is close...

The article assesses the usefulness of indicators taken from surveys carried out by the National Bank of Belgium for predicting Belgian GDP and other important quarterly macroeconomic aggregates. To this end, the authors use the recently created BREL now-casting platform that consists of...

In the past few years it has become painfully clear that the financial markets’ loss of confidence confronting certain euro area countries can swiftly spread to other Member States, ultimately threatening the orderly functioning and stability of the euro area as a whole. Back in 2007, before...

The article examines transfers between regions via the central government budget, referring essentially to the regional household accounts published by the National Accounts Institute. It examines only the aspects concerning allocation between the regions of that part of government revenue and...

Economic recovery plans make up a important part of the wide-ranging package of measures that economic policy-makers worldwide have taken in response to the financial and economic crisis. More specifically, the EU Member States have either approved or announced fiscal measures to boost economic...

Estimates of cyclically-adjusted budget balances, correcting actual government budget balances for business cycle fluctuations, are produced by many institutions, including the European Commission, the IMF and the OECD. This paper presents an alternative approach for the cyclical adjustment of...

In this paper we examine the sustainability of euro area public finances against the backdrop of population ageing. We critically assess the widely used projections of the Working Group on Ageing Populations (AWG) of the EU's Economic Policy Committee and argue that ageing costs may be higher...