Ministers have overspent their budgets by a total of almost €3bn this year, confidential sources have told the Financieele Dagblad. At the end of February, the overspend was put at a maximum €2.5bn.

The finance ministry has refused to confirm the new figure but has admitted the picture presented at the end of February was ‘not complete’, the paper says.
The health ministry has recorded the biggest over-run on its budget, with spending outstripping forecasts by €1.5bn. The education ministry is also spending more than it should, the paper says.
Acting finance minister Jan Kees de Jager told the paper that the cabinet’s caretaker status makes it difficult to take steps to bring spending back under control. ‘But however we do it, we’ll get there,’ he said.
It will be difficult to order health service cuts because contracts have already been signed with healthcare providers, the paper states.
Most parties have committed themselves to not making cuts in education and healthcare spending in their election manifestos.