Belgium

Belgium became independent from the Netherlands in 1830; it was occupied by Germany during World Wars I and II. The country prospered in the past half century as a modern, technologically advanced European state and member of NATO and the EU. Tensions between the Dutch-speaking Flemings of the north and the French-speaking Walloons of the south have led in recent years to constitutional amendments granting these regions formal recognition and autonomy.

Economical characteristics

• Currency: Euro (ISO code: EUR)
• Central bank discount rate: 3% (31 December 2008)
• Commercial banks lending rate: 7.03% (31 December 2008)
• Stock of money (M1): $NA
• Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $NA

Statistics

Statistic / Year	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
GDP (million USD)	253 833	231 934	231 663	251 884	310 074	359 609	375 714	399 226	458 389	504 206
Govt. debt (% of GDP)	111.980	106.962	105.632	102.192	96.157	91.080	89.631	85.603	82.630	88.032
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)	42.957	42.946	43.085	42.085	43.146	41.460	41.577	40.776	40.226	41.217
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)	44.108	43.083	43.755	42.135	43.428	41.809	44.515	41.130	41.003	42.530
Debt to revenue (years)	2.607	2.491	2.452	2.428	2.229	2.197	2.156	2.099	2.054	2.136

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

External links

• Belgium on Wikipedia
• Central bank of Belgium
• BBC country profile