The government will have to take extra steps to keep its finances under control as the budget deficit rises above agreed limits, finance minister Jan Kees de Jager told reporters on Tuesday.

‘We felt this coming. It is certainly not positive,’ the minister said. ‘There are no easy times ahead of us.’
De Jager refused to say what sort of measures the government is likely to take. ‘But I can rule out nothing. There are no taboos,’ the Volkskrant quoted the minister as saying.
Recession
The government’s macro-economic forecasting agency CPB says the budget deficit is set to hit 4.1% next year and that the economy is already in recession.
The coalition – the Christian Democrats and right-wing Liberals – together with the anti-Islam PVV have already agreed an €18bn package of cuts. The PVV has said several times it will not support any more spending cuts unless €4bn is shaved off spending on development aid.
Deputy prime minister and acting leader of the CDA Maxime Verhagen said the government would have to take steps which would not only generate money, but would improve the country’s longer term prospects. ‘We will all notice the worsening economy in 2012,’ he said.
Reforms
CPB director Coen Teulings urged the government not to make major cuts at a time of recession. Instead, the government should take the time to make structural reforms to deliver money and growth.
This could include moderation, a faster introduction of a higher pension age and a reduction in mortgage tax relief.
The government will outline what measures it plans to take in the early spring.