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Themes

The FPB’s studies cover 11 main themes: Energy, Environmental economic accounts and analyses, International economy, Labour market, Macroeconomic forecasts and analyses, Public finances, Sectoral accounts and analyses, Social protection, demography and prospective studies, Structural studies, Sustainable development, Transport.

Public finances

Contact

  • https://pubfin.plan.be

News

Main conclusions of the national conference on public investment management held on 29 May 2024 [25/09/2024]

The national conference on public investment management yielded some important lessons about the situation in Belgium. In particular: the importance of more effort being made upstream of the political decision in preparing projects, the creation of a transversal coordination role, the introduction of multi-year budgeting and the taking into account of environmental issues.

Activity report, September 2023 to September 2024 and external review of the Study Committee for Public Investments [25/09/2024]

This activity report looks at the setting up of the SCPI, its achievements, its contribution to the public debate and the future work required after its first year of activity. This report is accompanied by an external evaluation, financed by the European Commission, which takes stock of the SCPI operation and makes recommendations for the future.

Regional economic outlook 2024-2029 [18/07/2024]

On 18 July 2024, the Federal Planning Bureau, the Brussels Institute for Statistics and Analysis (BISA), Statistics Flanders and the Walloon Institute for Evaluation (IWEPS) published their economic outlook for the three regions.

Regional economic outlook 2024-2029 [18/07/2024]

This report presents the regional Economic Outlook 2024-2029, which is consistent with the national Economic Outlook published by the Federal Planning Bureau in June 2024. It is the result of a collaboration between FPB and the Brussels Institute for Statistics and Analysis (BISA), the Walloon Institute for Evaluation (IWEPS) and Statistics Flanders.

Study on top wealth taxation [13/11/2023]

The idea of a top wealth tax has regained interest in Belgium, as opposed to the international trend in the last decades. While twelve OECD countries implemented it in 1990, only three still do since 2018. Such a tax raises questions. For the account of the Federal Planning Bureau, the ULB studied a top wealth tax to define its scope and understand the stakes at play.

Contact

  • https://pubfin.plan.be

The Federal Planning Bureau (FPB) carries out various activities on the theme of public finances. The FPB produces medium- and long-term projections of the government’s accounts. It also studies and models the interactions between macroeconomic evolutions and public finances. Within the National Accounts Institute (NAI), the FPB assists in drawing up the government's account in the national accounting.

The FPB carries out various activities on the theme of public finances :

  • Within the National Accounts Institute (NAI), the FPB assists in drawing up the government's account in the national accounting. The integration of these accounts into the National Accounts allows the government's account to be compared with the accounts of the other macroeconomic actors (households, businesses, Rest of the World).
  • The FPB studies and models the interactions between macroeconomic evolutions and public finances. These models allow the impact of government decisions on the economy and the repercussions of the economic situation on the condition of public finances to be analysed. Public finance modelling is based on a detailed analysis of the budgets of the federal administration, social security and the Regions. It is also based on the study of the structure and evolution of public employment, compulsory taxes, institutional regulations for financial transfers between levels of government and determinants of public debt and interest charges.
  • The FPB draws up the "economic budget" (see the theme ‘Short-term forecasting and business cycle’). This provides the macro-economic short-term framework for drawing up and reviewing the budget by the competent authorities. It includes public finance elements which directly affect the economic parameters (public consumption, investments, indirect taxes, subsidies, etc.).
  • The FPB carries out detailed medium-term (5-year) forecasts of the evolution of public finances, on both the national and the regional level of government (see the theme ‘Forecasting and macroeconomic analysis in the medium term’).
  • The FPB carries out detailed medium-term (5-year) forecasts of the evolution of public finances for each Region within the framework of the HERMREG project. It does so in collaboration with the three regional institutions: SVR, BISA and IWEPS (see the theme ‘Forecasting and macroeconomic analysis in the medium term’).
  • The FPB explores very long-term possible evolutions of public finances. It also studies the issue of fiscal sustainability, both in the context of the European budgetary surveillance mechanisms and in connection with issues related to fiscal federalism (see the theme ‘Social protection, demography and forecasts’).

Methods and instruments

Apart from various databases, the following instruments are used:

  • The different "public finances" and "social security" modules of the macroeconomic models MODTRIM, HERMES and HERMREG;
  • The MALTESE modelling system - including the specific models it comprises - which allows the long-term evolutions of social expenditure to be simulated.

Contact

  • https://pubfin.plan.be
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