Belgium’s budget minister resigns after deficit spat

Belgium’s minister for the budget Eva De Bleeker resigned on Friday after concluding that she could not continue in post amid a row over federal spending figures presented to parliament.

There were angry scenes in parliament on Thursday when the opposition accused Prime Minister Alexander De Croo’s government of presenting outdated deficit forecasts.

De Bleeker has been forced to admit a “material error” after it emerged that a decision to prolong a VAT reduction on power bills would deepen Belgium’s deficit woes.

“I would have liked to finish this work… But unfortunately, I must conclude at this stage that it has become impossible to continue,” said the minister, a 48-year-old member of De Croo’s Flemish Liberal party.

Belgium’s government had told European Commission budget watchdogs that next year its deficit, already one of the deepest in the EU, would hit 5.8 percent of GDP.

But the country has also prolonged a reduction in the tax applied to electricity bills to soften the blow to households of Europe’s energy crisis.

Taking this estimated 1.7-billion-euro loss of revenue into account, the deficit could swell to a huge 6.1 percent, but this risk had not been included in De Bleeker’s estimate.

De Croo argues that the energy bill cut will be compensated for by an excise reform that should leave the measure budget neutral, but has accepted his minister’s resignation.

She will be replaced by Alexia Bertrand, a 43-year-old French speaking liberal.