N-VA comes up with a savings plan: cutting billions in health care and social security

According to the Monitoring Committee, our country will have a budget deficit of 45 billion euros by 2029, or 6.4 percent of GDP. N-VA wants to limit the budget deficit to 3.05 percent of GDP in 2029. So they want to make major savings. They revealed their plan for those savings on Thursday. They propose cuts to the government and social security. Part of that amount is used to reduce taxes and support the economy. In 2029, the picture should look like this: savings on government, worth 3.7 billion euros, savings on social security, worth 11.8 billion euros. Tax reduction worth 921 million euros. And investment in the economy worth 550 million euros. The final result is a saving of 18.2 billion euros.

In order to complete this socio-economic recovery program, the party wants to set up a mini-cabinet that will work on this for two years. According to N-VA, the recovery program is necessary to prevent our prosperity from being endangered. “What we are going to propose is what a mini-cabinet would implement in our dream scenario in a period of two years,” says party chairman Bart De Wever.

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Healthcare and government

In concrete terms, the party wants to save 675 million euros on healthcare by 2025. By 2029 that should be 4.537 billion. The growth path is now 2 percent. N-VA wants that growth path to depend on economic growth, which would amount to an increase of 1.5 percent.

Within the government, N-VA wants to save money by reducing the number of MPs, abolishing the Senate, implementing an index jump within party allocations, abolishing the provinces, reducing the costs of the federal government and saving on the royal family .

Furthermore, according to N-VA, savings should also be made on newspaper distribution and development cooperation.

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Social measures

Social expenditure increased over the past ten years from 100 billion to 150 billion euros. If policy remains unchanged, this will rise to 200 billion by 2030. Bart De Wever’s party also wants to take measures for this. For example, they want to limit unemployment benefits in time, index jumps for unemployment benefits and living wages, activate the long-term sick, a realistic growth path for healthcare, an index jump for the highest pensions above 3,500 euros, the abolition of equalization (the very advantageous system in which civil servants rest will see their pension rise along with the wages of civil servants still working, on top of the index), a reduction in the pension bonus and a reduction in the reception capacity for migration.

“The situation is dramatic and untenable,” says Sander Loonens. “Honesty is necessary. If you want to heal, you must first recognize that you are sick.”

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