Belgium: Important loss in export market share, going hand-in-hand with deterioration in the current account balance and declining cost-competitiveness. The level of gross private sector debt should be seen in conjunction with high levels of public debt.

5. Insists that sound fiscal policy is a pre-condition for sustained growth and job creation since low budget deficits and government debt foster low and stable inflationary expectations and help maintain low interest rates; warns against repeating the policy mistakes of 1999-2001; calls, therefore, for the current upswing to be used in two ways in order to achieve the following: the elimination of deficits and the accumulation of surpluses, which would reduce debt levels, and the improvement of the quality of public finance by investing more in education, vocational training, infrastructure, and research and innovation, which would as ...[+++]sist in helping to meet the challenges posed by an ageing population; welcomes in this respect the fact that on 20 April 2007 the Eurogroup adopted orientations for fiscal policies in eurozone Member States, recalling the commitment to actively consolidate public finances in good times and to use unexpected extra revenues for deficit and debt reduction;

5. Insists that sound fiscal policy is a pre-condition for sustained growth and job creation since low budget deficits and government debt foster low and stable inflationary expectations and help maintain low interest rates; warns against repeating the policy mistakes of 1999-2001; calls, therefore, for the current upswing to be used in two ways in order to achieve the following: the elimination of deficits and the accumulation of surpluses, which would reduce debt levels, and the improvement of the quality of public finance by investing more in education, vocational training, infrastructure, and research and innovation, which would as ...[+++]sist in helping to meet the challenges posed by an ageing population; welcomes in this respect the fact that on 20 April 2007 the Eurogroup adopted orientations for fiscal policies in eurozone Member States, recalling the commitment to actively consolidate public finances in good times and to use unexpected extra revenues for deficit and debt reduction;

4. Insists that sound fiscal policy is a pre-condition for sustained growth and job creation since low budget deficits and government debt foster low and stable inflationary expectations and help maintain low interest rates; warns against repeating the policy mistakes of 1999-2001; calls, therefore, for the current upswing to be used in two ways in order to achieve the following: to eliminate deficits and accumulate surpluses, which would reduce debt levels as well as to improve the quality of public finance by investing more in education, vocational training, infrastructure, and research and innovation, which would assist in helping t ...[+++]o meet the challenges posed by an ageing population; welcomes in this respect the fact that on 20 April 2007, the Eurogroup adopted orientations for fiscal policies in euro area Member States, recalling the commitment to actively consolidate public finances in good times and to use unexpected extra revenues for deficit and debt reduction;

Furthermore, given the level of government indebtedness and in view of budgetary challenges in the long term, the Council recommends that all additional revenues which might stem from better than expected real GDP growth be allocated to debt reduction.

No other bilateral or multilateral official development assistance budget had been increased by so much in recent years (e.g. the outcome of the latest discussions on the ninth three- yearly replenishment of IDA resources. Official development assistance and private investment Oda was, of course, an essential factor in the development of the ACP countries. Nevertheless, it was a relatively minor component. Development necessarily meant the creation of a self-supporting economy, to which the private sector had an essential contribution to make. The challenge the ACP countries were facing, against the background of changes in the international economic scene, was the need to attract productive investment in spite of growing worldwide competitiveness. The ACP co ...[+++]untries's debt to the Community Mr Marin personally undertook to make a more de tailed examination of the problem of ACP indebtedness towards the Community. The Commission now possessed the basic data relating to the problem and would soon be able to put forward a proposal aimed at wiping out the debt recycling funds under Lomé IV. Implementation of the Lomé Convention The capacity to absorb aid presented a very real problem. No more than about 19% of the sum available under Lomé III had actually been paid out (while 76% had been committed).