Van der Straeten receives “njet” from the National Bank about the proposal to contribute to the crisis | Economie

“It is not the job of the National Bank to make policy proposals or formulate tax proposals.” This is what Gert Siut, a spokesperson for the National Bank (NBB) says in response to a request by Energy Minister Tyne van der Straiten (Gruen) to draw up a crisis contribution proposal from the energy sector. Thus, it basically wants to get rid of the “excess profits” that Engy Elektrabel is making in our country due to the high energy prices.

“It is clear that Engie Electrabel is benefiting from unprecedented energy price hikes,” said Van der Straeten. At the moment, Engie Electrabel is almost completely exempt from the Doel 1, 2 and Tihange 1 nuclear reactors, except for the €20 million for the Energy Transfer Fund. For other nuclear power plants, there is a distribution contribution of 38 percent of profits. According to CREG’s estimate, this distribution contribution for the years 2022-2024 will be between €529.68 million and €683.92 million. But that’s not enough for Van der Straeten, who asked the NBB to make a bid.

But she says there that it is not within the National Bank to develop such a proposal. “This is not our expertise. The National Bank is a neutral institution,” NBB Deputy Governor Stephen Vanaker told Kanaal Z. “The National Bank is a neutral institution,” adds Sciot spokesperson. “We monitor the economy, do research and give advice. But we will not work in policy terms and certainly will not write invoices. It is up to the politicians to make policy decisions, not the National Bank.”

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