Finance minister Eelco Heinen has told reporters that he will take a tough line with the reset of the cabinet when the government’s 2025 spending plans are being finalised.
Speaking ahead of Friday’s cabinet meeting, Heinmen said that “every setback will have to be covered and I am going to keep colleagues to that.”
The government’s macro-economic forecasting agency CPB is due to publish its latest economic figures later on Friday and they will be crucial for determining how much room the government has.
The budget plans will be published on Tuesday September 17.
Some problems are already known. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that people who had paid too much in asset tax – because the government used an assumed increase not actual figures – should be compensated. The total bill could be as high as €4 billion.
The failure to sell the German energy grid owned by Dutch state-owned grid operator Tennet is another setback that will impact the government’s finances. The cost of compensating victims of the childcare benefit scandal is also mounting up.
Asked if there were any windfalls, Heinen said “The only windfall I have seen is that the number of setbacks has stopped piling up”.
“We have setbacks and a mounting national debt,” he said. “That is a bitter message, but it is reality.”
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