The federal and regional governments then came forward with €800 million in loan guarantees to prop up Dexia, as well as a new chairman in the shape of former prime minister Jean-Luc Dehaene. But this arrangement ran out at the end of September and the proposal now is to increase GH’s capital by €480m, with the 600 or so municipalities due to vote as Flanders Today went to press.

Ghent, however, has already said no to the idea. According to the city’s alderman for finance, Christophe Peeters, the burden of promised “superdividend” of 13% on new shares will make it impossible to pay out a dividend on normal Dexia shares.

Meanwhile the Groen! party has called on all parties to vote against the proposal, arguing that municipalities that do not subscribe to the capital increase will be “penalised financially”. But CEO Carlos Bourgeois of GH said he remained “cautiously optimistic” that the proposal would pass.

• Elsewhere, Dexia announced it would be cutting some 1,500 jobs over the next three years, including 795 in Belgium. The jobs affected would be mainly in the IT division. The bank had previously announced 900 cuts this year, 350 of them at home; it has now added a further 600 jobs over the next two years, 445 of them in Belgium.