National Currency

Euro (EUR)

Belgium joined the Euro Area on 1 January 1999.

GDP

According to Eurostat, nominal GDP of Belgium in 2016 was 422.0 bln EUR.

Belgium underperforms the European Union in terms of real GDP growth with the average annual differential coming to -0.1% over the past 10 years (2006 - 2016). In 2016 real GDP growth was 1.2% which was below the Euro Area average (1.8%) and below the European Union average (1.9%). Real GDP growth in 2017 - 2022 are IMF's estimates.

In 2016, nominal GDP per capita in Belgium was 37 400 EUR.

Belgium has an above-average level of wealth in terms of per-capita GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP); this economic welfare indicator has, on average, exceeded that of the European Union by 21.8% over the past 10 years (2005 - 2015). GDP per capita at PPP in 2016 - 2022 are IMF's estimates.

Inflation Rate

According to Eurostat, inflation rate in Belgium in 2016 expressed as annual percentages of average consumer prices was 1.8% which was above the Euro Area average (0.2%) and above the European Union average (0.3%). Inflation rates in 2017 - 2022 are IMF's estimates.

Unemployment Rate

Government Bond Yield

According to Eurostat, government bond yield in Belgium in Mar 2017 was 0.87%, compared to 0.87% in Feb 2017.

Credit Ratings (as of Sep 2016)

Withholding Tax

Withholding taxes are imposed at source of income and are often applied to dividends, interest, royalties, rent and similar payments. The rates of withholding tax are often reduced by double taxation agreements.

Withholding Tax Rates in Belgium: 0.0 - 25.0%

Withholding tax rates applied on payments of interest and dividends in Belgium are shown in Table 1.

Double Taxation Agreements

Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) is an agreement between two or more countries for the avoidance of double taxation.

DTAs of Belgium: 100 Signed Agreements

Belgium signed DTAs which already came info force with the following jurisdictions (for agreements which came into force after 01 January 2013 the date of coming into force is given in brackets):

There are also several agreements between Belgium and other jurisdictions which were signed but haven't yet come into force (for agreements signed after after 01 January 2013 of signing the agreement is given in brackets):

Information Exchange

There are 3 ways for jusrisdictions to exchange information on tax matters:

• spontaneously;
• on request;
• automatically.

Spontaneous exchange of information is provision of information that is forseeably relevant to another party without a request being previously sent.

Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) enable exchange of information on request relating to a specific tax investigation, either criminal or civil.

Automatic information exchange allows jurisdictions to exchange information automatically, without having a specific tax investigation.

Exchange on Request: 17 Signed Agreements

Belgium signed TIEAs which already came info force with the following jurisdictions (for agreements which came into force after 01 January 2013 the date of coming into force is given in brackets):

There are also several agreements between Belgium and other jurisdictions which was signed but haven't yet come into force (for agreements signed after 01 January 2013 of signing the agreement is given in brackets):

Automatic Exchange: Starts in September 2017

Belgium signed the automatic information exchange agreement on 29 October 2014 and committed to start the automatic information exchange in September 2017.

Further Information

• Automatic Exchange of Information on Financial Accounts
• Countries Which Will Not Automatically Exchange Account Information

FATCA

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) which became law in the United States in March 2010, focuses on reporting made by foreign financial institutions about financial accounts held by US taxpayers or foreign entities in which US taxpayers hold a substantial ownership interest. The FATCA-reporting is facilitated by Intergovernmental Agreements (IGAs).

Belgium has FATCA agreement with the U.S. in effect since 23 April 2014 (Intergovernmental Agreement Model 1). Financial institutions operating in Belgium are required to identify U.S. taxpayers by January 1, 2017 and to report the information for 2017 and the subsequent years. The agreement is reciprocal: Belgian financial accounts hold in U.S. financial institutions will be reported to Belgian authorities.

Further Information

• FATCA and European countries

Financial Market Development

According to World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017, financial market development in Belgium is scored 4.7 out of maximum 7.0 and ranked 29th out of 138 analysed economies. Soundness of banks is scored 5.2 bringing Belgium into the 57th place, trustworthiness and confidence of financial market is scored 4.5 (52nd place).

Deposit Guarantee Scheme

Deposit Guarantee Schemes compensate certain deposits held by depositors of a bank that becomes unable to meet its obligations.

From a depositor's point of view it is important to know:

• if the depositor is eligible within the terms of the deposit guarantee scheme;
• if the depositor's bank is a participant in the deposit guarantee scheme;
• if the depositor's type of deposit is covered by the deposit guarantee scheme.

All these details about deposit guarantee scheme in Belgium are summarised in Table 2.

EEA stands for European Economic Area and consists of all EU member states plus Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland.

EEA currencies are all official currencies of EEA members. Switzerland is not a EEA member, but because CHF is the official currency of Liechtenstein, CHF also belongs to EEA currencies.

So, only the deposits made with Belgian banks in the following currencies are covered by the deposit guarantee scheme of Belgium

EUR	Euro
BGN	Bulgarian lev
CZK	Czech koruna
DKK	Danish krone
HUF	Hungarian forint
ISK	Icelandic króna
CHF	Swiss franc
NOK	Norwegian krone
PLN	Polish złoty
RON	Romanian new leu
SEK	Swedish krona/kronor
GBP	Pound sterling

It should be also noted that deposits in non-EEA currencies (for example, USD and JPY) are not covered by the Belgian deposit guarantee scheme.

Further Information

• Deposit Guarantee Schemes in Europe

Country Ceiling for Deposits

Moody's country ceilings for deposits specify the highest rating that can be assigned to local- or foreign- currency denominated deposit obligations of a bank or other deposit taking institution domiciled within that country.

Local currency (Euro) deposit ceiling for Belgium is set to Aaa (prime), foreign currency deposit ceiling is Aaa (prime).

Deposit Rates

In Feb 2017, an agreed annualised deposit rate in local currency (Euro) of new contracts with agreed maturity up to 1 year between credit institutions and households was 0.16% which was below the Euro Area average (0.43%).

Banking Sector Structure

Currently there are 95 credit institutions operating in Belgium.

In 2015 consolidated banking assets in Belgium were 970.29 bln EUR. The consolidated banking assets' evolution is shown at Chart 7 below.

Recent structural changes (2013 - 2016) of the banking sector of Belgium are summarised in Table 3.

The list of the most recently opened banks in Belgium is provided in Table 4.

All the credit institutions operating in Belgium can be classified into several categories. Table 5 summarises the number of banks in each category.

There are 61 branches of foreign banks from 14 different countries in Belgium. Table 6 shows 10 countries having the biggest number of branches in Belgium.