Abstract

This paper is an annual publication issued by the Microeconomic Analysis service of the National Bank of Belgium. The Flemish maritime ports (Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend, Zeebrugge), the Autonomous Port of Liège and the port of Brussels play a major role in their respective regional economies and in the Belgian economy, not only in terms of industrial activity but also as intermodal centers facilitating the commodity flow. This update paper provides an extensive overview of the economic importance and development of the Flemish maritime ports, the Liège port complex and the port of Brussels for the period 2007 - 2012, with an emphasis on 2012. Focusing on the three major variables of value added, employment and investment, the report also provides some information based on the social balance sheet and an overview of the financial situation in these ports as a whole. These observations are linked to a more general context, along with a few cargo statistics. Annual accounts data from the Central Balance Sheet Office were used for the calculation of direct effects, the study of financial ratios and the analysis of the social balance sheet. The indirect effects of the activities concerned were estimated in terms of value added and employment, on the basis of data from the National Accounts Institute. As a result of the underlying calculation method the changes of indirect employment and indirect value added can differ from one another. (...) Following the 2009 decline and the improvement in 2011, maritime traffic in the Flemish ports began falling again in 2012. That applies to all the Flemish ports. Value added was rising in the maritime cluster of the Flemish ports and falling in the non-maritime cluster where trade and industry were in decline. Direct value added has risen in the ports of Antwerp and Ostend whereas it has fallen in the ports of Zeebrugge and Ghent. Conversely, direct employment was expanding in both clusters in the Flemish ports viewed as a whole and in each port taken individually. The decline in investment in the Flemish ports continued in 2012. That trend is evident in all the Flemish ports except the port of Ostend where investment was maintained in 2012. The volume of cargo handled in the port of Liège decreased in 2012. Direct value added and employment contracted in both clusters. The steel giant ArcelorMittal had idled two blast furnaces at the site in Liege. Investment increased in both clusters in the Liège port complex. The volume of cargo handled at the port of Brussels declined in 2012. Value added and employment in the maritime cluster fell but rose in the non-maritime cluster. The drop in investment recorded since 2009 continued throughout 2012, albeit at a slowing pace. This report provides a comprehensive account of these issues, giving details for each economic sector, although the comments are confined to the main changes that occurred in 2012. Document type: Book

Abstract

This paper is an annual publication issued by the Microeconomic Analysis service of the National Bank of Belgium. The Flemish maritime ports (Antwerp, Ghent, Oostende, Zeebrugge), the Autonomous Port of Liège and the port of Brussels play a major role in their respective regional economies and in the Belgian economy, not only in terms of industrial activity but also as intermodal centres facilitating the commodity flow. This update paper provides an extensive overview of the economic importance and development of the Flemish maritime ports, the Liège port complex and the port of Brussels in the period 2004 - 2009, with an emphasis on 2009. Focusing on the three major variables of value added, employment and investment, the report also provides some information about social balance and the financial situation in these ports as a whole. These observations are linked to a more general context, along with a few cargo statistics. Annual accounts data from the Central Balance Sheet Office were used for the calculation of direct effects, the study of financial ratios and the analysis of the social balance sheet. The indirect effects of the activities concerned were estimated in terms of value added and employment, on the basis of data from the National Accounts Institute. In terms of maritime cargo traffic, the downturn recorded during the last quarter of 2008 continued throughout 2009. Direct value added declined in all the ports in Flanders. Maritime branches as a whole contracted. Only the value added of the maritime branches in the port of Ostend remained stable. The non-maritime branches as a whole saw a contraction in all the Flemish ports. It was the port of Antwerp that suffered the most from the drop in the value added. Its maritime branches shrank by nearly one third. While the non-maritime branches were slightly down. The port of Ghent recorded a bigger decrease in the non-maritime branches. Conversely, the value added in the port of Zeebrugge fell more sharply in the maritime branches. Direct employment in the ports of Flanders as a whole declined during the year 2009. Except in Ghent, direct employment in the maritime branches fell in all the Flemish ports. Similarly, only one of them, the port of Ostend, recorded a rise in employment in the non-maritime branches. Thanks to this, it has been the only Flemish port to register direct employment growth. Investment decreased in all the ports in Flanders. The decline in investment was between one-sixth and one-fifth in the ports of Ghent, Antwerp and Zeebrugge. While Ostend recorded a cut of more than one third in its investment levels in 2009. The volume of cargo handled in the port of Liège decreased strongly in 2009. Direct value added and employment registered a significant decline. Maritime and non-maritime branches were down for both value added and employment. Thanks to the "other services" branch of activity, investment rose steadily. The volume of cargo handled at the port of Brussels declined in 2009. Value added in this port remained steady. But employment contracted slightly. After the growth seen in 2008, investment was down by more than a quarter. This report provides a comprehensive account of these issues, giving details for each economic sector, although the comments are confined to the main changes that occurred in 2009. Document type: Book

Abstract

This paper is an annual publication issued by the Microeconomic Analysis service of the National Bank of Belgium. The Flemish maritime ports (Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend, Zeebrugge), the Autonomous Port of Liège and the port of Brussels play a major role in their respective regional economies and in the Belgian economy, not only in terms of industrial activity but also as intermodal centers facilitating the commodity flow. This update paper provides an extensive overview of the economic importance and development of the Flemish maritime ports, the Liège port complex and the port of Brussels for the period 2006 - 2011, with an emphasis on 2011. Focusing on the three major variables of value added, employment and investment, the report also provides some information based on the social balance sheet and an overview of the financial situation in these ports as a whole. These observations are linked to a more general context, along with a few cargo statistics. Annual accounts data from the Central Balance Sheet Office were used for the calculation of direct effects, the study of financial ratios and the analysis of the social balance sheet. The indirect effects of the activities concerned were estimated in terms of value added and employment, on the basis of data from the National Accounts Institute. As a result of the underlying calculation method the changes of indirect employment and indirect value added can differ from one another. (…) After the upturn in 2010, maritime cargo traffic in the Flemish ports continued to rise, albeit at a slower pace in 2011. Direct value added declined in the four ports in Flanders as a whole. Both maritime and non-maritime clusters as a whole were down. The only increase in value added occurred in the port of Zeebrugge. The value added of the non-maritime clusters in each port declined, while in the maritime cluster, the port of Antwerp was the only one to register a steep drop. Direct employment in the Flemish ports as a whole declined during the year 2011. This is true of both the maritime and non-maritime cluster. Only the port of Ghent registered a rise in employment in both clusters. Investment contracted in the Flemish ports as a whole for the third year in a row. The decline in investment was between 7 and 13 percent in the ports of Antwerp, Ghent and Ostend, whereas Zeebrugge recorded a negative rate of one-fifth in its investment levels in 2011. The volume of cargo handled in the port of Liège increased slightly in 2011. Direct value added rose in both clusters, while employment registered a decline in the maritime cluster and a rise in the nonmaritime cluster. After falling in 2010, investment picked up again in 2011 in both clusters. The volume of cargo handled at the port of Brussels rose in 2011. Value added in the maritime cluster was up but contracted in the non-maritime cluster. Employment increased in both clusters. The drop in investment recorded since 2009 continued throughout 2011. This report provides a comprehensive account of these issues, giving details for each economic sector, although the comments are confined to the main changes that occurred in 2011. Document type: Book

Abstract

This paper is an annual publication issued by the Microeconomic Analysis service of the National Bank of Belgium. The Flemish maritime ports (Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend, Zeebrugge), the Autonomous Port of Liège and the port of Brussels play a major role in their respective regional economies and in the Belgian economy, not only in terms of industrial activity but also as intermodal centres facilitating the commodity flow. This update paper1 provides an extensive overview of the economic importance and development of the Flemish maritime ports, the Liège port complex and the port of Brussels for the period 2008 - 2013, with an emphasis on 2013. Focusing on the three major variables of value added, employment and investment, the report also provides some information based on the social balance sheet and an overview of the financial situation in these ports as a whole. These observations are linked to a more general context, along with a few cargo statistics. Annual accounts data from the Central Balance Sheet Office were used for the calculation of direct effects, the study of financial ratios and the analysis of the social balance sheet. The indirect effects of the activities concerned were estimated in terms of value added and employment, on the basis of data from the National Accounts Institute. As a result of the underlying calculation method the changes of indirect employment and indirect value added can differ from one another. The developments concerning economic activity in the six ports in 2012 - 2013 are summarised in the table on the next page. The overall decline in maritime traffic seen in the Flemish maritime ports in general in 2012, and in each individual port, was reversed in 2013, but only thanks to growth in Antwerp; the other three ports (Ghent, Ostend and Zeebrugge) experienced a further decrease. In terms of value added, the opposite occurred: a general increase, except in Antwerp, resulting in a slight rise for these ports as a whole. The employment picture was variable, but there was expansion overall, matching the growth of value added, namely 0.3 %. Finally, investment in the Flemish ports declined overall, totalling 3.2 % less in 2013 than in the previous year. In the ports of Liège and Brussels, cargo traffic and employment both declined in 2013. After the sharp fall in 2012, value added at the port of Liège edged upwards again, but in Brussels it recorded a significant decline2. Conversely, investment in Liège was down again, following the surge in 2012, whereas the port of Brussels saw a substantial increase. This report provides a comprehensive account of these issues, giving details for each economic sector, although the comments are confined to the main changes that occurred in 2013. Document type: Book

Abstract

"Aquest document presenta un anàlisi de la inversió pública escomesa a Catalunya i Espanya en els últims temps. La Formació Bruta de Capital Fix executada pel total de les Administracions Públiques en aquests dos àmbits geogràfics es va reduir dràsticament en el procés de consolidació fiscal posterior a la gran recessió i la crisi del deute perifèric europeu. La inversió va absorbir en gran mesura aquest ajust. No obstant, aquesta situació de baix nivell d’inversió, notablement per sota de la mitjana europea, ha esdevingut estructural. A partir del 2016, la recuperació dels ingressos públics ha anat acompanyada d’un creixement de la despesa corrent en major mesura que la despesa de capital.

La literatura econòmica ressalta la importància del paper de la inversió pública en la contribució al creixement econòmic i al benestar de la societat. En aquesta línia, diversos organismes a nivell català, estatal i internacional han analitzat i mostrat la seva preocupació per aquest tema els darrers anys.

Un dels objectius del treball es introduir aproximacions al que seria un nivell mínim o òptim d’inversió pública. A partir de la depreciació de l’estoc de capital públic, de la comparativa amb països i regions de l’entorn europeu o dels resultats que mostren els models científics.

Conèixer les necessitats o els nivells desitjables d’inversió pública i la seva justificació econòmica és només un pas previ. La política fiscal ha de garantir un pressupost per mantenir aquests estàndards. És a dir, vincular els plans d’inversió amb el procés pressupostari i també amb l’escenari macroeconòmic. Amb el propòsit de deslligar la variable inversió del cicle econòmic,  pressupostari i electoral i evitar-ne grans oscil·lacions hi ha consens per facilitar-la en períodes deficitaris i eliminar la pràctica habitual dels governs de pivotar l’ajust fiscal en l’esforç inversor. La funció estabilitzadora (anticíclica o keynesiana) de la política fiscal inversora també ho requereix.

L’article presenta els instruments que s’han utilitzat en aquesta línia en diferents països (límits constitucionals del dèficit públic, regles d’or, plans d’inversió públics...) i quins han estat els resultats. També el marge que deixa la tornada al marc de les noves regles fiscals a la UE que entren en vigor aquest 2024 després de la seva suspensió derivada del shock exogen de la pandèmia del Covid-19.

El moment és especialment sensible en el cas català i espanyol. Els dèficits públics han estat persistents des de la crisi econòmica i financera i aguditzats aquests anys d’excepció per la pandèmia. El retorn a la disciplina pressupostària comporta un repte majúscul per blindar un espai fiscal per a la inversió. La senda de consolidació per l’estat espanyol està força clarificada després de l’Acord en el Consell Europeu per a les noves regles fiscals. No és el cas de Catalunya, que haurà d’estar pendent del repartiment de l’ajust entre les Comunitats Autònomes. La solució per la via de la despesa no ha de ser reduir els recursos emprats en inversió, i més important encara, ja no pot ser-ho. Els nivells d’inversió pública són tant baixos que amb prou feines arriben a cobrir el manteniment de l’estoc de capital existent."