No spectacular growth for Belgian economy
If forecasts from the European commission are to be believed, Belgium will put down the second worst economic growth figures in the EU this year. Among the 28-member bloc only Italy will perform worse according to Europe's embryonic government.
Belgian economic growth is predicted to total 1.8% this year. This is better than last year, when it was only 1.7%. However, the EU average is 2.3%.
The 1.8% growth figure is good news for the Belgian government that made its budgetary calculations on the assumption that Belgian growth would total 1.7% in 2018. Belgium's poor performance, when compared to the bloc as a whole, is often explained as the result of the way that the country experienced the recent economic downturn. The Belgian economy suffered fewer blows than its neighbours and as a result is coming back from a better position cancelling out the prospect of spectacular growth.