Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
Wopke Hoekstra on 2019 Prinsjesdag
Wopke Hoekstra, Finanace Minister in the Rutte III cabinet, poses with the briefcase traditionally used on Prinsjesdag. Sept. 17, 2019 Photo: Valerie Kuypers/Ministrie van Financien
Politics
Business
national debt
coronavirus support measures
childcare allowance
Wopke Hoekstra
Ministry of Finance
Coronavirus
Thursday, January 28, 2021 - 11:10
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

Covid support, allowance scandal pushing gov't debt above norm

The government expects that the national debt will rise above the European standard of 60 percent of gross domestic product this year, Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance said in a letter to parliament. This is partly due to the extension of the coronavirus support packages announced last week, and to a lesser extent to measures announced after the childcare allowance scandal came to a head, NOS reports.

At the end of last year, the government still expected that the national debt would remain just below the 60 percent limit. But estimates now show that the government spending on coronavirus support to businesses will be higher than expected, amounting to over 60 billion euros last year and this year. National debt is also rising because companies are making less profit and therefore paying less taxes. Companies in trouble can also get a postponement on their taxes.

More money will be spent on the full financial compensation of the families affected by the childcare allowance scandal than the government expected. And in the aftermath of the scandal, the government also needs to spend money on improving information provision and services, so that this type of abuse can't happen again in the future. Over the next five years, that is expected to cost nearly 4.5 billion euros extra. 

Government debt rising above the European standard will have no immediate consequences. Due to the coronaviris crisis, the European fiscal rules can temporarily be ignored. But in the longer term, the national debt will have to fall below that limit again. 

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Amsterdam's Royal Tropical Institute to build new rain collecting “smart” roof
  • First televised election debate to take place on Sunday evening
  • School closures exacerbate cyberbullying, experts say
  • Two separate stabbing incidents in Groningen and Amsterdam
  • Covid-19 seven-day average up 17 percent for the week; hospitalizations total also rises
  • Experts: EU’s legal threats against AstraZeneca likely to end in failure

Top Stories

  • Covid-19 seven-day average up 17 percent for the week; hospitalizations total also rises
  • Code yellow weather warning for most parts of The Netherlands due to fog
  • Suspect in Amsterdam fatal shooting arrested in Valencia, Spain
  • 4,993 news Covid-19 cases; seven-day average up 22 percent for the week
  • Debate season has started: These were the main points of the first political showdown
  • Parents in suspected infanticide case were 'convinced that the child was dead'

© 2012-2021 NLTimes.nl, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact