Belgium must find about two billion euros if it is to make good on a pledge to the EU executive to bring down its budget deficit to 2.8 percent of GDP this year, press reports said Saturday.
A report, drawn up by the body tasked with outlining budget targets that is to be submitted to the cabinet on Sunday, found 1.5 billion euros extra were needed because of the sluggish economy.
Another 500 million should be kept in hand should the growth rate decline further, the press reports said.
Belgium expects near-zero economic growth in 2012, with a rise of GDP of 0.1 percent, against 0.8 percent initially anticipated, the advisors to the Belgian government said.
Belgium, a bellwether economy within the 17-nation eurozone, entered recession in late 2011, preliminary figures released earlier this month by the national central bank showed.
Gross domestic product declined by 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter, following a contraction of 0.1 percent in the three months from July through September, according to the bank's data.
For 2011 as a whole however, the economy posted 1.9 percent growth, it added.
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