BELGIUM yesterday confirmed its unenviable title as the first non-bailed-out Eurozone member to fall back into an official recession.
GDP in Belgium, the bloc’s sixth largest economy, shrank by 0.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011, following a quarterly contraction of 0.1 per cent in the July to September period.
Belgium is often cited as a harbinger of things to come in Europe and many countries in the region are already sliding towards recession.
Meanwhile in bailed-out Greece, itself a victim of a contracting economy, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos will seek backing from political colleagues for more austerity -- a condition expected by the IMF.
“The PSI [private sector participation] deal has been done,” said a senior Greek banker close to the negotiations yesterday.
