Belgium's Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt has said he expects the Belgian economy to grow at a faster rate in 2003, but warned the pace of growth would be slower than some recent estimates.
"We have witnessed a lower growth path of around one per cent during two consecutive years. Growth will increase next year to a level which we have witnessed during the past 20 years or so.
"That was about two per cent," Mr Verhofstadt said in a speech to an international fair in Ghent in northern Belgium.
Yesterday, Belgium's Federal Planning Bureau, an official advisory body, forecast a 2.6 per cent rise in gross domestic product next year.
But Mr Verhofstadt said the government was expecting a lower growth figure for next year.
"I along with the budget minister will propose to the government ... a more cautious figure," he said.
Mr Verhofstadt reiterated that he expected the government to target a balanced budget both this year and next.
The Federal Planning Bureau also said yesterday it expected economic growth of 0.7 per cent, lower than even the most bearish forecasts for Belgian economic growth this year.
The 2002 growth forecast falls short of projections from the country's central bank which expects the economy to grow by 1.1 per cent this year from 1.0 per cent in 2001.
The bureau cited slower growth of private consumption due to increased savings, a drop in business investment and a slight drop in exports for the slowdown in economic growth.