MPs want the right to vote on whether the government can sell off state-owned companies but finance minister Wouter Bos is opposed, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday.

The issue is current since the nationalisation of ABN Amro and Fortis. The two banks are being merged into a single financial services group and will then be sold off.
‘I must be able to keep an eye on what is being done with taxpayers’ cash,’ Christian Democrat MP Frans de Nerée told the paper. ‘If the minister buys a bank for €10bn and then sells it for €2bn then I want to know about it.’ A majority of MPs support this position, the paper said.
Bos, however, is concerned about the effect on shareholder confidence if he tells MPs about prospective sell-offs, the paper says.