NEWS

Tom Van Dyck
+32 475 90 90 91
t.vandyck@liedekerke.com

Freya Mareels 
+32 475 25 11 50
f.mareels@liedekerke.com

Wim Dedecker
+32 491 36 03 99
w.dedecker@liedekerke.com

Company turnover starts to recover but the outlook for the Belgian economy remains grim

A new survey was conducted during the last week of May by a number of federations of enterprises and the self-employed, to assess the impact of the coronavirus crisis on economic activity in Belgium and on the financial health and decision-making of Belgian companies. 

Companies surveyed point to a 26 % drop in turnover compared with pre-crisis levels, 5 percentage points better than the previous survey and the best result since the first survey carried out at the end of March. This improvement is mainly due to the trade and building sectors, while the situation is still critical in the catering and accommodation and arts, entertainment and recreation sectors. 

For the foreseeable future, a return to normal is not on the cards yet. Six out of every ten firms questioned expect to see a reduction in their employment between now and the end of the year and seven out of eight companies do not think they will get their turnover back up to pre-crisis levels in the third quarter.

Measures to support individuals and businesses extended and prolonged

The Belgian financial sector and Finance Minister Alexander De Croo, have agreed to prolong and to extend the current measures to support the economy. The following measures have been prolonged and extended :

• with respect to the deferral of payment of mortgage and business credit, the deadline for the repayment has been extended from 31 October to 31 December 2020. In practice, individuals and businesses that have applied for and received a deferral of payment can, on 31 October - if they still meet all the conditions - apply for a further deferral until 31 December;

• with respect to the guarantee scheme, the date of entry into the guarantee scheme for new 12-month credits has been prolonged to 31 December 2020 and has been extended to SMEs. For SMEs - which often need longer-term credits - an additional guarantee scheme is foreseen for credits with a duration of between 12 and 36 months.

EBA issues guidelines to address gaps in reporting data and public information in the context of COVID-19

EBA published guidelines on reporting and disclosure of exposures subject to measures applied in response to the COVID-19 crisis. These guidelines follow the implementation of a broad range of measures with the aim to support the operational and liquidity challenges faced by borrowers. The guidelines have been developed to address data gaps associated with such measures to ensure an appropriate understanding of institutions’ risk profile and the asset quality on their balance sheets both for supervisors and the wider public.

The guidelines cover the following subjects:

• reporting requirements to monitor the use of payment moratoria and the evolution of the credit quality of the exposures subject to such moratoria in accordance with the GL on moratoria;

• disclosure requirements for the exposures subject to the payment moratoria in accordance with the GL on moratoria;

• reporting requirements for the new loans subject to specific public guarantees set up to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 crisis;

• disclosure requirements for the new loans subject to the specific public guarantees set up to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 crisis; and

• reporting requirements on other forbearance measures applied in response to COVID-19 crisis.

 Reporting by financial institutions should be performed on a quarterly basis, with the first reference date of 30 June 2020, and for an expected period of 18 months. Disclosure should be performed semi-annually on 30 June and 31 December.