Historically-low interest rates due to the euro crisis have given the Dutch government a windfall of €7.5bn between 2009 and 2011, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday.

This means the extra costs generated by the crisis, such as the cost of rescuing ABN Amro bank and the Greek bail-out, are more or less covered, the paper says.
The paper bases its claim on its own calculations but says they have been confirmed by the finance ministry. Last week, for example, the Netherlands borrowed €1.2bn on the capital markets with an interest rate of 0.12%.
Costs
The figure also disproves the claim made by most opposition parties that the crisis is only costing money, the Volkskrant states.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday evening, the senate (upper house of parliament) voted in favour of strengthening the EU’s emergency fund. This means the Netherlands is now guarantor for some €100bn.