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Belgium: Selected Issues
Author:
International Monetary Fund
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Series:
IMF Staff Country Reports
Volume/Issue:
Volume 2005: Issue 076
Language:
English
Publication Date:
03 Mar 2005
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451803211.002
ISBN:
9781451803211
ISSN:
1934-7685
Pages:
38
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; labor market; employment rate; labor market reform; GDP growth; wage norm; cost projection; labor market adjustment; Employment; Labor costs; Aging; Tax wedge; Wages; Europe
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This Selected Issues paper analyzes the challenge of population aging for Belgium. It argues that the aging strategy should be broadened to include more explicitly the objective of raising employment rates to foster potential growth. The paper discusses assumptions underlying the official aging projections, and presents an alternative baseline scenario on the basis of unchanged policies. It discusses the feasibility of strategies that rely exclusively on either fiscal or labor market adjustment, and illustrates the benefits of a two-pronged strategy. The paper also examines employment effects of reductions in labor taxes in a wage-bargaining model.
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Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
IMF Staff Country Reports
ISSN:
1934-7685
Publisher:
International Monetary Fund