Belgium - Balance of payments Belgium-Luxembourg ran deficits on
current accounts each year from 1976 through 1984. Trade
deficits, incurred consistently in the late 1970s and early
1980s, were only partly counterbalanced by invisible exports,
such as tourism and services, and capital transfers. The Belgian
franc is equivalent at par with the Luxembourg franc; the two
nations formed the Belgian-Luxembourg Economic Union (BLEU) in
1921. Belgium ranks among the top 10 trading nations in the
world. Belgium in the early 2000s was making progress on meeting
the EU's Maastricht target of a cumulative public debt of not
more than 60% of GDP. Belgium has one of the highest current
account surpluses of all OECD countries, at 5% of GDP. The US
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports that in 2002 the
purchasing power parity of Belgium's exports was $162 billion
while imports totaled $152 billion resulting in a trade surplus
of $10 billion. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports
that in 2001 Belgium had exports