Belgian PM De Wever Offers Resignation After Budget Talks Collapse

The collapse of budget talks puts Belgium's fiscal trajectory into a genuine holding pattern, and the king's consultations now become the key mechanism determining whether a new coalition formula is attempted or the country drifts toward early elections. For markets, the immediate relevance is the unresolved €10 billion consolidation package: without it, Belgium's deficit path stays unanchored, and any repricing in Belgian government bonds would reflect political risk rather than growth or rate expectations. Whether the king's talks produce a viable coalition before a caretaker government settles in is the open question worth tracking.