Follow Us

Follow us on Twitter  Follow us on LinkedIn
 

12 October 2013

Netherlands: Final agreement on 2014 budget reached


After several weeks of intense negotiations, the late-night agreement between the cabinet and three opposition parties has given PM Rutte some breathing space, but nothing is yet certain, said the Dutch papers.

The 2014 budget will include €6 billion in savings to bring the country's deficit below the European limit. The chairman of the Dutch Central Bank said on 7th October that he felt that the Netherlands would emerge from recession in the third quarter.

The Financieele Dagblad said the government has once again agreed a budget 'in the nick of time'. The prime minister was deaf to opposition calls before the summer holiday on how he planned to put together a €6 billion austerity package. What has happened now is unique in Dutch political history, the paper says. We have now had a sort of interim government formation process to which everyone was invited.

The Parool says the cabinet has paid a high price for the agreement. It points out that the fundamentalist SGP won just 2 per cent of the vote at the last election but has been able to influence the budget to the tune of €1.2 billion, through ensuring school books remain free, child benefit is not cut and the defence ministry gets more cash.

But even if it appears there is now stability in The Hague, it is still far from certain, the paper says. "Every agreement the government has signed has loose ends. Look at the panic after the new government was formed last year and the income-dependent health insurance plan was quickly dumped. It remains to be seen if the cabinet has been careful this time round." "The big question mark remains over how the government will cope with any further setbacks", the paper states.

Full article

DNB-Overview Financial Stability Autumn 2013



© DutchNews.nl


< Next Previous >
Key
 Hover over the blue highlighted text to view the acronym meaning
Hover over these icons for more information



Add new comment