Federal govt to finalize drafting of 2023-24 budgets

The Federal Government’s ministers have already spent their weekend in negotiating the drafting of the 2023-24 budgets, and are continuing on Sunday with talks about energy, competitiveness and the budget on the menu.

The ministers held meeting from 10:00 to 13:00 on Saturday, as Prime Minister Alexander de Croo held bilateral discussion in the afternoon. However, a plenary talks on the multi-party questions also took place, but final decisions were reportedly not made.

As of Sunday morning, the ministers are meeting again. They should reach an agreement by Tuesday afternoon, as that is when de Croo’s State of the Union address in the Chamber is scheduled.

On Saturday, it was made clear that Federal Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem wants to go much less far in skimming off excess profits in the energy sector than the proposal put on the table by Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten.