Press Release
10 December 2015

Projections for 2015 of the cost of ageing in Belgium following the reforms adopted by the federal government

les réformes garantissent également la soutenabilité sociale de notre régime de retraite.

 

BRUSSELS – On Tuesday, 1 December, Daniel BACQUELAINE, Minister for Pensions, and Philippe DONNAY, Commissioner with the Federal Planning Bureau, presented an updated version of the          « Ageing Working Group 2015 » report drawn up for Belgium by the Federal Planning Bureau for the attention of the European Commission. This updated version takes into account both the pension reforms already adopted by this government and other reforms in the field of employment such as the system of unemployment with company supplement.

 

The findings of the « Ageing Working Group 2015 » show the beneficial effects of the pension reforms, being:

  1. Without the reforms the cost of ageing, which at present is estimated at 11.8 % of GDP, would have increased by 3.3 % and reached 15.1 % of GDP by 2060. Thanks to the reforms planned by this government the cost of ageing will increase but at a much slower pace and reach 13.0% of GDP by 2060, being 2.1 % less than the initial estimate. By 2060 the pension reforms will decrease spending on pensions by 1.6% of GDP.  
  2. Insofar as the budget is concerned, the reforms will improve Belgium’s medium-term objective (MTO). Belgium’s MTO is presently fixed at 0.75 % of GDP (structural surplus). Belgium has the highest MTO in the European Union. This can be explained by the country’s need to have a budget surplus enabling it to fund the high expenses in connection with population ageing, on the one hand, and a high debt ratio, on the other. Therefore, the ‘Bacquelaine reforms’ would ensure that Belgium, in application of the stability and growth pact, achieves an MTO that has been revised downwards.

 

Minister for Pensions Daniel BACQUELAINE : «In just over a year we have taken a large number of the measures mentioned in the coalition agreement. I am pleased to notice that the reforms that were adopted enable Belgium to present improved budgetary prospects without pensions being lowered. On the contrary, it appears that the reforms help guarantee the social sustainability of our pension system. »