The outgoing cabinet will have to deal with a budget shortfall of ‘just over €2bn’, caretaker finance minister Jan Kees de Jager told tv programme Buitenhof on Sunday.

An earlier estimate by former finance minister Wouter Bos had put the overspend at €1.8bn.
De Jager said he planned to talk to ministers over the next few days to find out how they planned to reduce outgoings in order to work away the overspend.
‘This is not strictly about cuts but about not spending more than was agreed,’ the Financieele Dagblad quoted him as saying.

Caretaker
Every spring, the cabinet makes a spot check on ministerial spending and that also applies to a caretaker government, De Jager said.
And spending cuts that were necessary would not be ‘controversial,’ the minister added, referring to the fact that caretaker administrations are only supposed to mind the shop.
But Labour’s parliamentary leader Mariëtte Hamer told news agency ANP that she would not be in favour of any cuts, given the importance of investing in the economy.
And GroenLinks leader Femke Halsema said ministers should only be allowed to press ahead with planning cuts if it appeared that it will take too long to form a new government after the June 9 elections.