After a sharp fall in March, consumer confidence is continuing its cautious recovery this month. However, families still have low expectations regarding their financial situation and expect to save less in the coming months.

In view of the Batibouw construction fair, the National Bank has collected all available information on the recent situation on the Belgian construction and real estate market in a new and dynamic dashboard, where you will find indicators and graphs about subjects such as mortgage loans, housing investments, employment and construction industry sentiment.

In the latest NBB blog post, our expert explains why a watered-down version of the Basel IV accords is insufficient to ensure financial stability.

According to the new NBB report on the economic importance of the Belgian ports, the system of temporary unemployment has avoided many redundancies. Moreover, maritime business activities were considered essential and could operate without interruption.

Report recommends to strengthen the coordination, to increase the interaction with users and to exploit new data sources. The National Bank of Belgium is involved as producer of macroeconomic statistics.

Exports of goods rose by 33.5 % and imports increased by 40.0 % in March. The war in Ukraine exacerbated already existing tensions on the energy markets. Belgian exports to the warring countries fell sharply, but with little impact on the total.

The steep rise in energy prices and wages is affecting firms in all sectors, but in varying degrees. The ultimate impact depends on the extent to which firms can pass on those higher costs to their customers. This study describes the consequences for Belgian firms’ profit margins.

Interestingly, up until 2015, foreign firms invested more in Belgium than the other way round. So, proof of the stereotype of the cautious Belgian? Find out in this blog article how a handful of big investors have helped to reverse the trend and improve the flow of capital to foreign economies.

The dashboard contains a selection of relevant macroeconomic and sectoral analyses and indicators drawn up by the teams of the National Bank of Belgium, the Federal Planning Bureau and FPS Economy, SMEs, Self-Employed and Energy.

Business confidence has picked up in April, recovering the ground lost last month. The business climate has improved in all branches of activity surveyed, with the exception of business-related services.