Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever tendered his resignation to King Philippe on Monday as coalition talks deadlocked over a deficit-cutting budget, with the monarch putting off his decision until the end of the week.

The Flemish conservative has been locked in protracted coalition talks to agree a federal budget for next year, with the government seeking 10 billion euros ($11.6 billion) in savings by 2029 to reduce the country's high deficit.

The latest talks broke down hours before De Wever put forward his resignation in a 90-minute meeting with the monarch.

"The king is withholding his decision and will launch discussions tomorrow with the different party leaders of the governing coalition," said a royal statement, adding that De Wever would be received again on Friday.

Belgium "cannot afford a prolonged political crisis," the palace warned in a statement, adding that "The king regrets the lack of agreement to give the country a credible budget that meets the current challenges."

"The king therefore calls on everyone to show a sense of responsibility and urges all parties involved to put the general interest and the spirit of compromise first," it said. 

De Wever, whose Flemish nationalist N-VA has led a five-party center-right coalition since February 2025, did not immediately comment.

Instead, it was left to the Instagram account of his cat Maximus, reportedly the second most popular political account on Belgian social media after De Wever's, to opine that "there are days like that".

Budget impasse

A similar budget impasse occurred a year ago, when De Wever nearly tendered his resignation to the king.

The government is seeking savings and new revenue to help cut a budget deficit that exceeds 5% of Belgium's GDP – but in months of talks, the N-VA and the French-speaking liberal MR party have not been able to compromise with their socialist and centrist coalition partners.

The N-VA and MR have pushed for deeper spending cuts, including to healthcare, while their partners demand higher wealth taxes to raise additional revenue.

Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot, from the francophone centrist party Les Engagés, renewed that call on Monday, shortly after De Wever's meeting with the king.

"A contribution from those with substantial financial means is legitimate," he said in a post on X. "This sharing of the burden between the wealthiest and other citizens is a matter of balance for the future."

The N-VA also faces opposition even from MR over its plans to include a VAT increase in its plans, which otherwise rely mainly on cuts to public spending, including on healthcare. 

Recent months have seen trade unions mobilize against austerity measures with rolling protests that have brought tens of thousands of people into the streets. One, on October 9, culminated in violence and vandalism.

Deadlock and disagreement

The outlook for reviving the deadlocked talks remains bleak.

David Clarinval, an MR member who is also the economy minister, warned that "the level of taxation under discussion remains far too high and far exceeds what was set out in the coalition agreement".

"Refusing to implement genuine reforms to reduce public spending condemns the country to an ever-widening deficit," he added.

Flemish-speaking Christian Democrats within the coalition urged urgent talks, while French-speaking counterparts Les Engages called for an "equitable solution" to ensure that those with "the broadest shoulders" made a fair contribution.

In opposition ranks, meanwhile, Francophone socialists accused the government of trying to "protect, whatever the cost, those with the largest fortunes to the detriment of the rest of the population".

And the far-right Vlaams Belang accused the government of presiding over a "historic budgetary crisis".

The country's main employers' organisation, quoted by the Belga news agency, warned meanwhile of the dangers of a political crisis when "markets are paying increasingly close attention to Belgium."

Ballooning debt and greater spending 

Like other European countries, including France and Italy, Belgium is struggling to balance ballooning national debt with demands from protesters for greater spending to improve services, such as education. Demonstrators have clashed with police in countries including France, Spain, Italy and Belgium in recent weeks.

Without an agreement, Belgium would be forced to operate under provisional spending rules next year, allowing it to spend only one-twelfth of this year's budget each month.

The crisis coincides with heightened stress on financial markets, where interest rates have risen sharply on government bonds of Belgium, France and other European countries seen to have weak government finances.

The European Commission forecast in May that Belgium's debt-to-gross domestic product ratio would be 110.5% this year, behind only Greece, Italy and France among euro zone countries, with a projected general government deficit of 5.2% of GDP.

Belgium's 10-year benchmark bonds were trading at a yield of 4.39% on Monday afternoon, against 4.90% for France and 3.29% for Germany. Four months ago, Belgian 10-year yields were at 3.48%.

De Wever has repeatedly warned of an "interest snowball", arguing that without budget cuts Belgium risks borrowing simply to cover the cost of servicing its existing debt.

The king will meet De Wever again on Friday. If he ultimately accepts the prime minister's resignation, he could ask other parties to form a coalition or call fresh elections.