# Belgium’s De Wever to Report Back as Q2 Debt Reaches 110.2% of GDP

By Riza Dagoc

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/56633
Published: 2026-11-13T12:28:57.000Z
Updated: 2026-11-13T12:28:57.000Z
Section: Regulation

> King Philippe rejected De Wever’s resignation on Nov. 6 and ordered budget talks to resume. The five governing parties are working toward a three-year agreement.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever is due to report back to King Philippe on Monday, Nov. 16, after budget talks stalled, with provisional government debt at 110.2% of GDP in Q2 2026.

De Wever offered to resign on Nov. 2 after budget negotiations failed. King Philippe initially delayed a decision, then rejected the resignation on Nov. 6 and directed the prime minister to restart talks immediately.

Leaders of the five governing parties pledged concessions toward an agreement covering the next three years. De Wever’s report to the king on Nov. 16 is the next scheduled step as negotiations continue.

The 110.2% reading is provisional general-government gross debt at the close of the second quarter of 2026. It was 3.8 percentage points higher than the figure for the same quarter in 2025, leaving Belgium with the EU’s fourth-highest debt ratio, behind Greece, Italy and France.

Belgium’s 2025 deficit outturn was 5.2% of GDP, and debt ended the year at 108.1%. The spring 2026 forecast projected a 5.2% deficit and debt of 110.5% for 2026, followed by a 5.4% deficit and debt of 112.8% in 2027.

EU treaty reference values set government deficits at 3% of GDP and public debt at 60%. GDP measures the value of final goods and services produced in an economy over a period. Expressing both budget measures as shares of GDP places them against the same economic baseline; Belgium’s 2025 deficit outturn and provisional Q2 2026 debt ratio exceed the respective reference values.

The Council of the EU launched an excessive-deficit procedure for Belgium in July 2024. In June 2025, it revised its recommendation, setting 2029 as the target to correct the excessive deficit and limiting net expenditure growth from 2025 through 2029.

The figures cover different periods: 110.2% is a provisional quarterly debt reading, 108.1% is the 2025 year-end result, and 110.5% is a forecast for 2026. The 2025 deficit is an outturn, while the 2026 and 2027 deficit figures are projections. De Wever is scheduled to report back to Philippe on Nov. 16.