Federal Planning Bureau revises down its inflation forecast for 2024
The Federal Planning Bureau has published its latest inflation forecast. In its May forecast that was published on Tuesday the bureau predicts that Belgium will end 2024 with an annual inflation rate of 3.1%. This is 0.2 percentage points down on its April forecast that predicted an annual inflation rate of 3.3% at the end of this year.
At the end of last year annual inflation stood at 4.06%. At the end of 2022 the annual inflation rate was 9.59%. For next year the Federal Planning Bureau predicts an inflation rate of 1.9%.
The so-called “Heath Index”, a means of calculating inflation that is used for the Trigger Index that determines when public sector wages, pensions an benefits are raised to match inflation is forecast to end the year at 3.1%. The Heath Index also determines the level at which rents can increase for those with existing rental contracts for their homes. The Federal Planning Bureau predicts that the Health Index will end 2025 at 2.0%. Last year this was 4.33% and in 2022 the Health Index ended the year at 9.25%.
The Trigger Index was exceeded last time in April. This means that pensions and benefits will rise by 2% this month with public sector wages set to rise by 2% in June. The forecast is for the Trigger Index to be exceeded again in February next year.