The cabinet is already expecting a €1bn shortfall in revenue this year as a result of the economic downturn which has hit the housing market and led to lower profits for businesses, reported NRC at the weekend.

In its traditional autumn budget review (najaarsnota) for 2008, the cabinet has lowered the amount of income it expects to generate from corporate tax by €500m, the paper said.
A similar reduction is expected from the duty paid on house sales (overdrachtsbelasting).
In a memo to MPs, finance minister Wouter Bos says that the shortfall is clearly the consequence of ‘the development in the number of houses sales’ according to Saturday’s NRC.
The national debt has gone up from 42% to 57%, just under the 60% of gross national product agreed by the European Union, said the NRC.
Instead of a budgetary surplus of 1.2% of gross national product that was calculated for 2008, the percentage will now be 1.1%, the paper said.
The government’s rescue packages in the financial sector will have an even greater impact on the 2009 budget, according to the NRC.
The treasury will have to pay €2.5bn more in interest payments on the national debt which will rise sharply as a result of the financial aid given to banks.
On the other hand, the state will get €2.1bn in interest and dividends from the banks that it has helped, said the NRC. The cost of advisors during the state’s takeovers of banks was €11m.
Besides nationalising ABN Amro Bank and Fortis Nederland, the government has allocated €20bn in rescue packages for banks because of the worldwide credit crisis.