Dutch consumers have lost confidence in the economy more quickly than in every other European country apart from Estonia, according to new figures from the national statistics office CBS.

Dutch consumers have always been among the most optimistic in Europe, alongside the Swedes and the Finns, the CBS said on Monday. But over the past nine months, consumer confidence in the Netherlands has slumped 19 points, the statistics office said.
The downturn is largely due to increasing gloom about the economy in general, it said.
Nevertheless, the figures show that the Netherlands is still one of the most optimistic countries in Europe, behind Sweden, Finland and Denmark.
Meanwhile, finance minister Wouter Bos said this weekend that he expects economic growth in 2009 to be below the 1.75% he had earlier forecast. ‘The Netherlands has low unemployment and relatively low inflation,’ Bos told news agency ANP during the EU meeting in Slovenia.
But the financial markets are unpredictable and his initial 1.75% forecast ‘may be on the high side,’ he said. In contrast, this year’s economic growth may be higher than the 2.25% earlier forecast.