Macroeconomic Data 1

Name………………………………………………………………xxxxxx

Tutor………………………………………………………………. xxxxx

Institution……………………………………………………………xxxxx

Title……………………………… International Political Economy-Belgium

Course………………………………………………………………..xxxxx

@2010
 Macroeconomic Data 2

International Political Economy-Belgium

Macro economic data

l Belgium
i macroeconomic
n indicators 2005-
e 2009Q2            
1 2x
2009Q1
  2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 +Q2
2 GDP data from
national accounts, in
local currency at
constant 2000 prices            
3 12,4 12,5 12,7 12,9 12,9
Consumption C 98 83 59 28 45 13,500
4 1714 1691 1850 2352 2316
Investment I 2 4 0 0 1 30,090
5 14,0 15,0 16, 15,0 15,0
Government G 80 60 020 70 20 15,127
6 13,0 16,0 16,5 16,0 16,2
Exports X 00 40 00 00 00 20,000
7 - - - - -
12,7 14,0 18,0 16,0 18,0
Imports M 50 00 00 00 00 -16,000
8 43,9 46,5 45,7 51,5 49,3
C+I+G+X-M 96 97 79 18 26 62,717
9 3054 3203 3383 3543 3641 35682.
GDP (Y) as reported 5.7 2.9 5.4 4.3 5.7 8
1 the difference
0 between these two is  (16  (12
due to rounding  (134  (14  (77 083. 910.  (27034
errors 50.3) 564) 3) 7) 3) .2)
1 GDP deflator base
1 year 2000=100 2.4 2.5 2.0 1.7 2.6  2.1
               
1
2 C growth 1.4 1.1 2.5 2.2 1.9 1.4
1
3 I growth 8.1 4.3 5.7 5.4 4.3 3.8
 Macroeconomic Data 3

1
4 G growth 2.1 -0.6 1.4 2.1 2.0 3.0
1
5 X growth 5.9 3.1 3.6 4.6 3.9 3.6
1
6 M growth 6.3 3.8 4.6 5.1 4.4 3.8
1
7 GDP growth 3.0 1.7 2.8 2.7 1.7 1.9
1 % change in GDP
8 deflator 1.8 2.2 2.0 2.4 1.8 0.9 
               
1 Fiscal policy  -  -  - -
9 indicator: Budget 0.03 0.21 2.69 0.26 0.56
deficit as % of GDP 7 7 3 5 8  
               
2 Monetary data:
0 Money (M1)  14.1 14.9 15.4 15.9 16.4  
2
1 interest rate  3.66 3.39  3.82  4.41  3.87  
               
  Exchange rate data            
2 nominal rate versus  0.80 0.80 0.79 0.72 0.67
2 dollar 4 33 6 93 91  
2 real effective
3 exchange rate  101  103  104  105  107  
l Belgium
i macroeconomic
n indicators 2005-
e 2009Q2            

  Belgium
Balance of
Payments
in national
currency
(LTL
million)          
    2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Q1+Q2
  Current
a/c          
 Macroeconomic Data 4

24 Goods,
exports 26364.4 38888.3 39571.3 55477.4 9959.2
25 goods,
imports 34421.8 53274.6 55713.4 72593.2 21316.8
26 balance on - - -
goods -8057.4 14386.3 16142.1 17115.8 -11357.6
             
27 services,
exports 146.3 157 177.5 197.5 206.3
28 services,
imports -137 -149.1 -165.4 -183.6 -186.9
29 services,
balance 9.3 7.9 12.1 13.4 19.4
             
30 trade
balance
(goods &
services)
(line 26 + - -
line 29) -8048.1 14378.4 -16130 17102.4 -11338.2
31 investment
income,
net 41.5 52.7 53.2 21.4 -24.3
32 current
transfers,
net -8.1 -13.8 -11.7 -11.3 -14.0
33 balance on
current a/c
(lines 30 + - - -
31 +32) -8014.7 14339.5 16088.5 17092.3 -11376.5
             
34 Current
balance as
a
percentage
of GDP -26.24 -44.77 -47.5 -48.2  -31.88
             
  Capital a/c          
  - - -
 Net capital 1.2E+0 3.2E+0 4.6E+0
a/c 9 8 -3E+09 9  
35 Financial
a/c  -71.5  -84.4  -91.9 -51.9 -22.8
36 Direct -31.5 -64.8 -56.4 -16.8 -49.7
investment,
 Macroeconomic Data 5

net
37 Portfolio
investment,
net -49.7 -59.2 -53.5 -23.3 -37.7
38 Other
investment,
net 11.6 16.9 22.1 5.0 60.5
39 Balance on
financial
a/c (lines
35 – 38) -141.1 -191.5 -179.7 -87 -49.7
             
40 balance on
capital and
financial - - -
a/c -8155.8 14569.9 16268.2 17179.3 -11426.2
             
41 change in
reserves
(approx) 147 781 98 321 29
  The current
a/c surplus
= the
capital a/c
deficit          
  (which in
theory it
should so
there were
no changes
in reserves)          

The following graphs indicate some macro economic indicators of Belgium;

Macroeconomic Data 6
 Macroeconomic Data 7

Belgium experienced an economic growth of 3% in 2004 followed by a decline in economic

growth of 1.7% in 2005 and a rise of 2.8% in 2006 and later declined to 1.7% in 2008 as

indicated, by the GDP growth data in the table above. The reduction in GDP was

accompanied or was because of a decline in comsumption growth from 2.5% in 2007 to 1.4%

in 2008 (IMF 2009). The interest rates from 2004 to 2008 forms a cyclical pattern with a high

as 4.41 % in 2007 and reduced to 3.87% in 2008 indicating an increase in economic decline.

Belgium’s economic growth is also indicated by fiscal policy indicator, which decreased from

0.265 in 2008 to -0.568 in 2009. Increase in consumption from 12,498 from 2004 to 12,945 in

2008 indicates is a clear indication of how the economy of Belgium has grown over time

despite of the cyclical pattern experienced. Exports also increased from 13,000 in 2004 to

16,500 in 2007 and decreased to 16, 200 in 2008, investment increased from 17142 to 23161

in 2008 and government expenditure increased from14, 080 from 2004 to 15,020 in2009,

which are clear indication of the currency performance in Belgium. The increase in exports

has been accompanied by an increase in imports leading to an increase in balance of payment.

 Macroeconomic Data 8

The country’s per capita income was $37,500 in 2008, which made it the world highest.

Despite of the past economic growth, the country experienced a negative economic growth

due to increased unemployment rate and a budget deficit of 3% which steemed from the

global banking crisis (IMF 2009). The country has had a high public bebt, which was 99% of

the county’s GDP. The GDP of the country at this year was 1.7%, which was a decline from

the previous year. The recent economic deep recession in Europe and United States has highly

affected Belgium’s economy in the fouth quarter of 2008. Commodity prices have fueled

inflation in Belgium and the government foresaw that the rise in income would lead to a huge

damage of competitive position of the country.

Foreign direct investment in Belgium has increased from -31.5 in 2004 to -64.8 in 2005

followed by a decrease to -56.4 and -16.8 in 2006 and 2007 respectively. The balance on

financial account has increased from -141.1 in 2005 to-191.5 in 2008, which clearly indicates

a high perfomance in the country’s economy (IMF 2009). The country seems to have a high

import as compared to the exports as indicated by the increase of goods imports from

34,421.8 in 2004 to 72,593.2 in 2008 while goods exports increased from 26,364.4 in 2004 to

55, 477.4 which resulted to a negative balance on goods. The same applied to services imports

and exports, which led to a negative balance of payment in the country. That is, imports seem

to be more than the exports leading to a defict in balance of trade. In conclusion, despite the

global financial crisis it is evident that Belgium has been trying all it can so that it can have an

increase in GDP and this is the main contribution to the high financial performance

experienced by the company like the high per capita income of $37,500 in 2008.
 Macroeconomic Data 9

References

Belgium Economic Statistics and Indicators, http://www.economywatch.com/economic-

statistics/country/Belgium/ Accessed on December 12, 2010

Trading Economics Belgiums balance of trade

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/Economics/Balance-Of-Trade.aspx?Symbol=bef Accessed

on December 12, 2010

International Monetary Fund, (2009). Belgium: 2008 Article IV consultation: staff report,

staff supplement, and public information notice on the Executive Board discussion.

International Monetary Fund.

International Monetary Fund, (2006). Balance of Payments Statistics: Country tables. v.2, Part

2 World and regional tables, Part 3 Methodologies, compilation practices and data

sources, Volume 57. International Monetary Fund

OECD Economic Surveys: Belgium 2007. Volume 3 of OECD Economic Surveys OECD

Economic Surveys Belgium. OECD Publishing