BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? Belgian political parties negotiating a coalition agreement have reached a deal on the 2012 budget, seen as the last major obstacle to forming a government and Belgium's King Albert called for rapid steps to form a new cabinet.
"The King is pleased that agreement has been reached. Accordingly, the King instructed the formateur to form a government as quickly as possible," the statement said, referring to the Belgian term for a person responsible for negotiating the coalition.
Belgium has set a modern-day record for being without a formal government -- it has been 19 months since elections were held last June.
The country's squabbling politicians need to find 11.3 billion euros ($15.09 billion) of savings so that Belgium can cut its deficit to below 2.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) next year, in line with EU rules.
On Friday, Standard&Poor's downgraded Belgium's sovereign credit rating to AA from AA+ because of the protracted lack of government which impeded the country's funding prospects.
(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski and Luke Baker)
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