Q There has been economic growth in Belgium but it's very modest. What is your outlook for the rest of 2016 and beyond? A We took some important measures last year and we are still working on others. First of all, we have decided on a tax shift, which is very important in lowering labour costs and stimulating purchasing power for consumers. That was instigated last year and the results in creating jobs are now ongoing. The national bank launched a study recently that showed the shift will create 140,000 jobs in the next year. Of course, our growth was a little modest and we had the terrorist attacks in March - but referring to the national bank again, it predicted that this year there will be a growth of 1.3% of gross domestic product, [later] growing to 1.6% in 2018. The tax shift lowering the labour costs is very important. The second measure that we have taken is raising the pension age to reach 67 by 2030. And we are also discussing modernising our labour laws. This issue is very important to me as minister of economy and employment. We are on track - but it is step by step.
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