Central Planning Bureau

The Dutch economy continues to grow steadily and its growth is expected to reach 3.3 percent this year, according to planning office CPB's estimate in its Macro Economic Exploration, which was published on Wednesday. If this estimate holds true, this will be the first time the Dutch economy grows by more than 3 percent since the outbreak of the economic crisis in 2007. In 2018 the gross domestic product is expected to grow by 2.5 percent, NU.nl reports.

The European economy is continuing its steady growth, and for the first time in a long time all EU countries saw economic growth. The European Commission expects that the EU economy will grow by 1.7 percent this year and 1.8 percent in 2018. The Netherlands is outperforming the EU average with expected economic growth of 2.1 percent this year and 1.8 percent in 2018, the Volkskrant reports.

Thanks to higher than expected revenue and lower than expected spending, the Dutch government is left with a 200 million euros surplus on the 2016 budget, Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem of Finance said in a letter to parliament on Thursday, ANP reports.

The surplus can almost entirely be attributed to the total tax and premium revenue of last year, which came out 3.1 billion euros higher than projected. Expenses were 0.2 billion euros lower. In the Autumn calculations the government still expected a budget deficit of 3.1 billion euros.

27 percent of freelancers and self-employed in the Netherlands do not have sufficent financial resources or insurance to provide an income for themselves should they be unable to work due to disability, according to a report published by the Central Planning Bureau (CPB) on Monday, ANP reports.

Just over half of self-employed and freelancers have sufficient possibilities to get a replacement income on the level of a disability benefit. One in 20 have no posibilities of providing a mininum income and will likely have to depend on welfare should they be unable to work.

The Dutch government often responds too slowly to technological developments like self-driving cars, robotics and fast growing internet companies like Uber and Airbnb, according to the Central Planning Bureau in a report. If nothing change, the Netherlands will lose its leading position in the IT field, the CPB warns

Adding dental care for adults to the basic health insurance package will cost the government 1.2 billion euros, according to calculations for the year 2018 by the Central Planning Bureau. The Ministry of Public Health is considering adding adult dental care to the basic package in an effort to lower contributions to supplementary insurance

If the Brits decide to leave the European Union, it will cost the Netherlands up to 10 billion euros in the period to 2030, according to the Central Planning Bureau. The Netherlands is one of the U.K.'s major trading partners and will therefore be hit harder by a so-called Brexit than other EU countries

The European Central Bank's "abnormal measures" policy of keeping interest rates low and buying up debt is no longer having effect because these measures are now considered normal, the Central Planning Bureau concludes in its annual report on important economic developments and financial risks for the Dutch economy

The tighter border controls in Europe as a result of the refugee crisis, is bad for the economy. By 2020 this will cost the Netherlands 9 billion euros, equal to a 1.3 percent fall of gross domestic product, according to calculations by the Central Planning Bureau

The number of job opportunities for young people will fall if the minimum youth wage is increased, according to the Central Planning Bureau. If the minimum youth wage is increased by 1 percent, there will be 0.4 percent less jobs available to young people. The more the wage increases, the greater effect it will have on employment opportunities

The Dutch economy is growing faster than expected and is continuing to recover despite the lower gas production. The Dutch economy is expected to grow 2.0 percent this year and 2.4 percent next year. Unemployment is expected to decrease to 6.7 percent next year and the government deficit to 1.5 percent of the gross domestic product.