He also said that the man had planned to blow up a large bomb but that, in the end, there had been only a small explosion.
Nicolas Van Herrewegen, a railway sorting agent who was in the station as the incident unfolded, said: "I went down to the mezzanine level".
As the attacker screamed "Allahu Akbar", or "God is great", in Arabic, a soldier shot the suspect several times, killing him. Nobody else was injured.
Answering the journalists' questions, the spokesman said that the perpetrator "wanted to cause significantly more damage". "The bag exploded twice but it could have been a lot worse".
Federal prosecutors said on Tuesday that they considered the incident a terrorist attack, although they declined to comment on the witness accounts of the man shouting Islamist slogans.
The Belgian capital, home to the headquarters of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the European Union, has been on high alert since Brussels-based Islamic State members killed 130 people in Paris in November 2015 and then organised the attack in Brussels months later.
Brussels has been on high alert since a group of suicide bombers carried out attacks at the Brussels airport and a subway station in March previous year, killing 32 people.
Michel also said extra measures were being taken to secure stations, public places, and major events.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said that the incident at the station "could have been potentially very risky", adding that security will be stepped up for major public events, such as the Coldplay concert at King Baudouin Stadium later on Wednesday.
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Remy Bonnaffe had just walked away from the timetable board at Brussels Central Station late Tuesday when he heard a loud bang and saw a flame. A mobile police command unit and several officers were still at the station, an Associated Press photographer said.
Virginia Mayo in Brussels contributed to this report.
"An individual carrying a rucksack and an explosive belt in Central Station has been shot dead", DH quoted the prosecutor as saying.
Belgium's federal prosecutor confirmed the "terrorist attack" at Brussels Central, one of the country's busiest stations.
Security services evacuated and cordoned off an area around the station, while ambulances arrived on standby.
The Belgian government's crisis centre said bomb disposal experts had been sent to the scene and a controlled explosion was possible.
"We have to see in what kind of society we want to live in", said Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon.
An Offaly man has been speaking to the Offaly Express about his experience in Brussels on Tuesday night, June 21, after the Belgian capital was the subject of a terror plot overnight.
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