New 2% wage top up in the offing
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Loading... - Lea Elzinga
- 06 Apr 2022
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Belgium’s planning office is forecasting that a fresh increase in benefits and public sector wages will soon be on the cards as the index is set to pass a new 2% threshold. The new increase will mean that benefits and wages are being topped up by 2% for a fourth time in only nine months and that the index has risen 8% over this period.
The last time index increases followed each other in such fast succession was in 1982, the year of the devaluation. If the index threshold is exceeded this month benefits and pensions rise 2% in May. Public sector wages go up in June. In the private sector the rise may come later depending on agreements in each sector.
It's energy prices that are fuelling this umpteenth index rise, but other products and services too are getting dearer. Food inflation stands at 4.6% now that producers are passing on the higher prices they are paying for energy and raw materials as well as the higher wages they are obliged to pay due to earlier inflationary pressure.
Belgium’s central bank expects wage costs in 2022-2024 to rise 13%. Wages in neighbouring countries too will rise as a result of inflation, but that may not happen as fast as in Belgium where the automatic linkage kicks in. Read More...
