Recovery of Dutch economy requires a multiple year timeline

THE HAGUE – Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende expects that the Dutch economy will experience the after effects of the current financial woes and downturn for years to come. The crisis has a multiple year character, which requires a long-term recovery strategy, the cabinet foreman said following its first post-holiday weekly meeting. Balkenende does not want to make decisions now that go beyond his current four-year term but does say that his cabinet ought to consider the longer-term implications, an idea that carries broad support among his ministers. Last Fall, when the cabinet announced its measures for dealing with the crisis, it indicated that it would start pruning government finances by 2011 when the next cabinet is expected to take office. Currently, the cabinet is putting its budget together for introduction on the third Tuesday of September, on “Prinsjesdag.” While the economies of Germany and France seem to have rebounded somewhat, the one in the Netherlands has so far shown no sign of recovery.