Part of the savings was covered by the use of reserves intended to cope with sudden budget shocks. In other measures not affecting spending, inheritance taxes will now be levied one month earlier than before, which will bring in €60 million. The government has also proposed doubling the so-called division tax – paid when one of the owners of a home buys the other out – from 1% of the price to 2%, for a saving of €30 million. Part of the working resources of the government – not including staff costs – will not be subject to indexation in line with inflation, and administration costs in general will be cut, for an estimated €104 million saving.

More savings are to come from public transport authority De Lijn, and a proposed child benefit will be postponed, with a saving of €15 million. No cuts have been made to spending on culture or on research and development.

“Our satisfaction at seeing the budget balanced is overshadowed somewhat by the feeling that we were expecting more ambitious structural measures from the government than they have presented,” said Jo Libeer, directorgeneral of Flemish Chamber of Commerce Voka. “This is indeed a careful budget revision, but it is not far-reaching enough.”

Unizo, the organisation that represents employers in Flanders, praised the decision to make savings on spending rather than increasing taxes. “In that way, the economy is, to an important extent, spared the effects,” a statement said. Unizo also applauded a decision by ministers to take a 2% pay-cut.

Meanwhile, the new budget found room for €12 million to go to increased subsidies for renovations that include the installation of solar water heaters and insulating windows, announced Flemish energy minister Freya Van den Bossche. At the end of last year the federal government ended tax-relief on energy-saving renovations other than roof insulation, and the two new measures have been introduced to close that gap to some extent. The subsidy for windows goes up from 20-30% to 30-40%, depending on income, with a ceiling of €15,000 for the total investment cost. For solar heaters, the subsidy is increased to €200-€500 per square metre, which cuts the earn-back time from 20 to 10 years.