2 May 2020 Update from A Locked Down Ghent

For the first time in weeks there was no press conference yesterday, instead there was a press release announcing that 130 people had died and that 152 new patients were admitted to hospital bringing the total of coronavirus patients in Belgian hospitals to 3,386. This is 223 fewer than the day before. The figures are slowly but surely getting better. The lesser good news was that the government announced that fiscal revenue plummet. Revenue from VAT was down €1.3 billion euro and income tax revenue was down €1 billion compared to March 2019. This together with additional government spending, income referrals and other liquidity and guarantee measures will lead to an immense budget deficit by the end of the year. Belgium’s National Bank is forecasting that the deficit will rise by 5% reaching 7.5% of GDP. This is 3% above the EU guidelines. Is this going to be the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression? Who is going to pay for the Great Lockdown? What is the impact going to be on our daily lives? Stay safe, stay healthy while we’re preparing for a bumpy ride out – Kortrijkse Poort, Ghent, Belgium.