A link between the state pension and life expectancy, cuts in healthcare spending and an end to tax relief on mortgages over €1m are among the measures senior civil servants have suggested for reducing the budget deficit, the Volkskrant reports on Monday.

The paper says it has a copy of the list of proposals drawn up by a committee of top officials which ministers will use to determine where to make cuts. The current government agreed not to let the budget deficit to exceed 2% of GDP, but the latest projections show it will reach 5.5% – some €33bn – next year.
The paper says ministers will this week decide a deadline for the reduction of the budget budget deficit to zero. Sources suggest the target is 2015, the paper says.
News agency ANP says that cuts in healthcare subsidies for people on low incomes and an increase in university fees are also among the options.
Ministers are also considering increasing the state pension age from 65 to 67 and reducing unemployment benefit to 1.5 years, ANP says.
Prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende said earlier that ministers hope to have finalised their plans by mid March.
On Wednesday the prime minister and his two deputies – Labour leader and finance minister Wouter Bos and ChristenUnie leader Andre Rouvoet – will hold their first talks on the plans, the Volkskrant says.