beleggers shorten Belgische obligaties

"The rise in funding costs had outpaced that endured by so-called euro peripherals of Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Italy.

"Because of its debt level, Belgium becomes a quasi peripheral,” said Stuart Thomson, a fund manager at Glasgow- based Ignis Asset Management, who helps oversee about $110 billion. “Belgium isn’t able to reduce its deficit through fiscal austerity at the moment.”

Belgium’s debt was 97 percent of gross domestic product in 2009, compared with 64 percent in Ireland, 115 percent in Greece, 53 percent in Spain, 77 percent in Portugal and 116 percent in Italy, according to EU data.

Efforts to reduce Belgium’s deficit have been hampered by a caretaker government as Di Rupo fought since the June 13 election to become the nation’s first native francophone prime minister since 1974."

Bloomberg 06-10-2010