LA clear divergence of analysis of the financial situation of the City of Brussels has once again emerged at the beginning of this week between the MR (opposition) and the PS (majority) in the course of sending a letter from the regional authority concerning in particular the evolution of borrowing costs.
This letter expresses the concern of the regional service of local authorities regarding the projections of expenditure linked to the repayment of capital and financial charges of loans for the years 2024 (68 million euros), 25 (83.7 million) and 26 (95.8 million) and of a risk of “considerable imbalance of the ordinary service”.
For Liberal leader David Weytsman, the debt burden has increased by 80% in less than a decade, which constitutes “a slippage”.
“If we continue on this path, the people of Brussels will be crushed by a historic tax increase… This is the absolute failure of the current majority,” he said. He once again called for a financial clean-up without increasing taxes, in particular by merging the services of the municipality and the CPAS; by rationalizing investments, subsidies and operating expenses; and by selling municipal assets, including a share of the real estate assets, to promote access to property for current public tenants.
Mayor Philippe Close (PS) does not share this point of view. “We are careful to respect a major principle: to keep the percentage of debt repayment, including charges, below 10% of the ordinary budget. We were not working in absolute value, especially since the budget itself increases due to inflation alone. Even with the figures for 2026, this major principle remains respected: the 95 million in expenditure linked to repayments represents less than 10% of the budget,” he explained to the Belga agency.
The mayor also stressed a point of “attention to be maintained: short-term credits are currently more expensive than long-term ones. It is therefore important to ensure that the loan is fixed in the long term,” he said.
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