Belgium is the home of surrealism; think of paintings by Magritte, or the attractions in Bruparck, where a a mini-Europe lovingly renders the continent's greatest monuments in 1:25 scale.

Politics are no exception. There's been no federal government for more than a year, but the country is continuing to grow and outperform the single currency bloc as a whole. Belgian gross domestic product expanded 0.7% in the second quarter, compared to a euro zone average of just 0.2% according to EU statistics published yesterday.

Last month, caretaker Prime Minister Yves Leterme cut the forecast for budget deficit to around 3.3% of GDP instead of 3.6%, well ahead of the deficit reduction path it agreed with the European Union, which targets a deficit of 4.1% this year.

All these healthy signs come in the midst of a bitter political deadlock which has seen the country run by a caretaker government since June 2010.

Negotiations resumed this week, but politicians are first attempting to resolve the thorny question of the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde electoral district, known as BHV, before tackling any socio-economic reforms. BHV, incidentally, brought down the last government. So surreal is this situation that arguably, the lack of government creates growth which in turn perpetuates the lack of government.