MNI INTERVIEW: Belgium Issuance Flexible As No Budget Passed

The Belgian Debt Agency believes its system of cancellable auctions provides it with necessary flexibility to confront an uncertain fiscal outlook  as the country struggles to pass a 2026 budget, the Director of Treasury and Capital Markets told MNI. 

"The magnitude of amounts that we issue [through cancellable auctions] and the rest of the funding plan is pretty well calibrated," Maric Post said in an interview. 

"I think there's no need to change that system," he added.

"The flexibility for us comes from the fact that we have a number of funding points throughout the year, the we can use our EMTN programme and the retail issuance programme." (See MNI INTERVIEW: Fiscal Concerns Overstated - Belgian Debt Chief)

SAFE JOINT ISSUANCE

Post said that access to EUR8.5 billion over the next four or five years from the EU's SAFE joint lending programme for defence would provide some help at the margins for the budget as military spending increases.

"It's not huge, but it's an additional help to diversify the funding for the next couple of years."