BRUSSELS--Belgium's budget for next year, which the six-party
governing coalition agreed Tuesday after lengthy negotiations,
includes a positive impact from the bailout of bank Dexia SA
(DEXB.BT) and complies with the country's budget targets, ministers
said.
"Given the length of time the budget discussions took, we are
happy," Prime Minister Elio di Rupo told reporters. "We will
reinforce the confidence of the outside world in our country."
Last week, the Belgian government agreed to another bailout of
debt-stricken bank Dexia SA; the capital injection, via preference
shares, won't weigh on the budget under European Union rules, but
the interest fees received for guarantees will have a positive
impact on 2013, adding 212 million euros ($271 million) to the
total.
Mr. Di Rupo said Belgium will stick to its EU goals, including a
balanced budget in 2015 and a budget deficit equivalent to 2.15% of
gross domestic product in 2013. However, government debt is still
rising from its current level of 100% of GDP.
"For 2012 we made an extra effort, so we got the deficit under
the psychologically important threshold of 3%," he said. "With
2013's budget we are reinforcing our position in the advance
peloton of Europe, ahead of the U.K., France and the Netherlands in
terms of deficit."
Write to Frances Robinson at frances.robinson@dowjones.com