Soaring energy prices and record inflation. Here is the reasons behind the drop in consumer confidence reports the National Bank. So what should we expect from 2023? Can we hope for a way out of the crisis? What role might Europe play? QR l’actu takes stock with the economist Etienne de Callatay.
Purchasing power in 2023?
Contrary to what was announced last July by the Federal Planning Bureau, our purchasing power will not rise once more in 2023, indicates Etienne de Callatay: “On average, we are heading towards a reduction in purchasing power of 2% in 2023. A drop similar to this that we experienced in 2022. It’s a lot, it’s certainly too much but it’s not dramatic and we cannot speak of a collapse in purchasing power for all Belgians”.
For the Unamur economist, growth over the longer term will no longer be comparable to what we experienced following the war, but according to Etienne de Callatay, it will potentially be more qualitative, particularly in terms of respect for the environment. “What we have done in the past is not sustainable. Continuing as before is not a solution. If it means less growth but better growth, we may live better”.
Why not do like France?
In France, the authorities have decided to control prices. It is a way of protecting the population, but this system has its limits, our economist believes. In Belgium, no price control but an automatic indexation of wages and social benefits which immunize the population to a large extent. In the end, when we analyze the two systems, it is better to be Belgian than French, according to Etienne de Callatay.
Lower prices?
If our prices are higher here than in France or Germany, it is due to less competition and higher wage costs, explains the professor at UNamur.
“If our authorities want to act, it would be more useful to put the means not on what pollutes that is to say energy but rather on the cost of work”.
And Europe?
Ursula Von Der Leyen, the President of the European Commission has declared that she wants to recover nearly 185 billion in excess profits on energy. But is it really possible? For Etienne de Callatay, recovering this money is possible. “I think it has a really good chance of happening first of all because public opinion wants it and there is political demand for it to happen and then on the other hand a lot of economists who defended the deregulation of the energy market, they now have a different perspective on the issue. Electricity is not a good like any other, it is not a market like any other and therefore it must be organized differently “.
