Netherlands deficit at 2.3 percent in 2014

The Netherlands' government deficit amounted to 2.3 percent of the gross domestic product, the same as in 2013. Public debt also remained fairly stable at 68.8 percent of the gross domestic product. This is according to figures published by Statistic Netherlands yesterday. The government deficit increased by 0.4 billion euros to 15.0 billion euros last year, but as the gross domestic product also increased, the percentage did not change. This is the second consecutive year that the Dutch government deficit complies with the 3 percent EMU deficit criterion. The deficit at the local government level increased slightly  to 2.1 billion euros last year. The provincial deficit doubled to 0.9 billion euros. This is partially due to the fact that the contribution of the national government was cut. On the other hand, the municipal deficit reduced by half to 1.1 billion euros. This was due to the national government contributions to municipalities increasing and land transactions that formed an important source of income. Public debt rose by 10 billion euros to 451 billion euros in 2014, but as with the government deficit, the percentage remained relatively stable due to the increase of gross domestic product.