How to support the economy, the citizens, while reducing expenses? The question is complex. The Walloon government has engaged in this perilous exercise and is presenting its copy for the 2023 budget, during a press conference which started at 3 p.m. this Friday, in Namur.
It was Elio Di Rupo, the Walloon minister-president (PS), who started the presentation.
“We managed to control the budget while providing a response to the energy crisis, in a general dynamic with the European Union and the federal level”he announced by way of introduction, before continuing: “We experienced the Covid, the floods and the war, which cost ten billion euros, so we had to control the evolution of the debt deficit.”
“The government is advancing 3 billion euros to deal with the energy crisis, in particular via a request from the DSOs (network managers, Editor’s note)”he continued.
Adrien Dolimont, Minister of the Budget (MR), continued the presentation with details of the most urgent measures. Here they are:
- There are direct aid measures for the self-employed and businesses.
- Targeted measures in terms of ease of payment and loans for companies.
- Indexation of APE (employment promotion aid).
- The non-indexation of rents for energy sieves. The measure will be applied from 1 November. For PEB A, B and C, there will be indexation. For PEB D, they will be indexed at 75%. For the PEB E, at 50% and the energy sieves will not be indexed.
- Maintaining the indexation of family allowances.
- The non-increasing of the waste bill for citizens.
- Mobility aid for family helpers and housekeepers.
Among the medium and long-term measures:
- A reform and increase in energy premiums.
- A training bonus for job seekers.
- Augmentation des budgets Renopack/Ecopack.
- Aid for energy audits of companies.
- Support for home ownership.
To find funding for these measures, the government mobilized 703 million euros from the reserves of its regional bodies and achieved structural savings of 400 million euros. This represents a much higher structural effort than expected. This requires an 8% reduction in ministerial allowances, to be “exemplary in the matter”, a reduction in expenditure in all administrations and certain sectors. There is also a reform of the company check system, an optimization of internal mobility in the public service, an optimization of the collection of administrative fines, etc.
“The list is not exhaustive but we are getting to this level of economy”advances Adrien Dolimont.
At the level of the recovery plan, there will be a prioritization in the projects. Another important element, “there will be no new taxes”ended the Budget Minister at the end of the presentation of the main lines of the Walloon budget 2023.
The Minister of Energy, Philippe Henry (Ecolo), specifies that the DSO taxation measures relate to renewables, because it is a regional competence, but recalls that there will be federal and European measures to be taken. into account thereafter.
“The windfall phenomena, in employment schemes or business vouchers, will be structurally eliminated”said Elio Di Rupo, to specify the savings measures in the budget.
For business aid, the Minister of the Economy specifies that this represents 505 million euros. Through several schemes, including mainly reduced-rate loans, zero-rate loans or guarantees (300 million), and direct aid to the self-employed and businesses, including SMEs (175 million. These can benefit from an intervention at provided that their energy bill has doubled and is at least 7,500 euros annually) as well as the carbon transition (30 million euros).