Abstract

A drastic change in economie and monetary policy, which started in 1982, has up to now resulted in a normalisation of the rate of inflation and the balance of payments. However, the growth rate of GNP is still low and unemployment high. Budget deficits, public debt and related interest payments are in proportion to GNP between the highest in the industrialised world. Economic events and political constraints hampered the efforts of the government to restore the situation. In 1986 a new plan was introduced and approved by Parliament, confirming an important cut in public expenditures. The existing burden of taxation already leads to a series of negative effects and a small open economycannot stay indifferent against the international movements towards lower taxes. So a tax reform in Belgium can only mean a restructering, leading to a decrease in personal income tax, largely compensated by an increase in indirect taxes. Further cuts in primary public expenditures will be unavoidable, but have to take into account, more than in the past, the repercussions on economie evolution in the long run.