Finance minister Wouter Bos has admitted for the first time that the Dutch economy could shrink next year. Earlier he has said that the economy would be stable or grow very slightly.

The comments were made on Thursday evening
Earlier in the day the chairman of the Dutch central bank Nout Wellink said he too expects the economy to shrink in 2009, partly as a result of consumer caution. At the end of October Wellink had predicted zero growth in 2008 and 1% next year.
The national statistics office CBS is due to publish official figures on the country’s third quarter economic performance later this morning.