On 26 January 2021, the Board of Directors of the National Bank of Belgium decided to accept, as part of the established sales procedure, the offer of the proposed acquirer, 3D Real Estate, for the sale of the divested property [situated at 1000 Brussels.

Lending to private individuals was strongly influenced by the COVID-19 crisis last year. According to the annual statistics for 2020 released by the National Bank’s Central Individual Credit Register, 17.8 % fewer new consumer loans and mortgages were granted than in 2019.

After last month’s strong improvement, the consumer confidence indicator has fallen back a bit in January. For the first time since September 2020, prospects about the general economic situation as well as expectations about unemployment trends have deteriorated.

The loss of turnover incurred by Belgian firms as a result of the coronavirus crisis has fallen again slightly in January, to 12 %. This modest improvement is mainly due to the continued recovery of turnover in the non-food retailing, wholesale trade and real estate sectors. The expected improvement on current turnover levels for the whole year of 2021 remains limited, but the prospects for next year have brightened noticeably, which is also reflected in investment plans for 2022.

The National Bank has estimated the impact on the Belgian economy on the basis of a Brexit deal with a free trade agreement. It has also calculated that the agreement should help boost Belgian GDP by 0.4 of a percentage point within five years over and above the trajectory used in its December economic projections that were compiled under the assumption of a no-deal Brexit.