The cabinet is considering a new round of cut-backs which could add up to as much as €15bn, the Telegraaf reports on Wednesday. The paper bases its claims on confidential civil service memos currently circulating in The Hague.

The paper says the suggested cuts paint a very black picture and much more money is likely to be involved in the next round of savings than the earlier-estimated €10bn.
The cabinet will decide how much it needs to reduce spending by in March, when the CPB macro-economic advisory body publishes its latest forecasts.
The cabinet suggests the credit crisis has left ‘deep traces’ and that ‘long-term low growth’ is likely to lead to budget deficits in 2014 and 2015. That will require major intervention, the paper says.
Mortgages and pensions
Dozens of possible cost reductions have been identified, including limits to mortgage tax relief and an increase in the pension age to 68 in 2025.
Both these options are opposed by Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam PVV, which has agreed to support the minority government in terms of economic policy in return for greater restrictions on immigration.
The Labour party has also said it will not prop up the cabinet if the PVV refuses to support new cutbacks.