| The Graydon Payment index, reflecting the extent to which enterprises observe their mutual payment agreements, is increasing to 103,04 points. On a regional level, a significant improvement is noted in both Flanders and Wallonia.
After a year, during which the payment behaviour of the Belgian enterprises deteriorated month by month, the fourth quarter of 2009 showed a spectacular improvement as far as payments between companies are concerned. The first quarter of 2010 consolidates this recovery.
We find that especially real non-payments return to pre-crisis level.
Just like our additional observations, the figures show that a large number of big enterprises that due to the crisis were imposing much too severe payment conditions upon their clients by doing business with even healthy enterprises on a cash basis only, are somewhat slackening the reins. This way, the SME world has gained some breathing space again as far as finances are concerned, thus enabling businesses that due to the crisis have to live off their reserves, to strengthen their position and helping them make it through the crisis.
Several sectors show particularly strong and positive signs. Within the catering industry, the construction and the aviation sectors, but also within the business services sector and the sectors that are purely industrial, values are noted which are sometimes better than those registered before the crisis. Certainly the sectors mentioned first are progressing from an economic point of view.
In spite of the change which was set in in the month of December 2009 and which is consolidated now, this issue remains a point of particular interest. In addition, the improvement does not apply to all sectors. Travel agencies and real estate agents are still awaiting recovery.
In the beginning of last year, the government promised an improvement with regard to payment morality,.a promise which was kept for a full year. During the first quarter of this year, government invoices were paid less punctually. This situation would only be temporary and merely due to the implementation of FEDCOM, a new ICT-platform to which the federal government services are gradually connected since last year and which is meant to modernize the governmental accounting system.
Download study (Dutch) [.pdf]
|