The cabinet may be planning to cut spending by an extra €2bn in order to free up more money for investment in industry, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Tueday.

Sources in The Hague have told the paper the cabinet hopes to generate an extra €2bn on top of the €6bn already in the pipeline, to invest in the economy.

Before the summer, ministers said they were planning to make cuts totalling €6bn, in line with demands by Brussels. The cuts are necessary to ensure the Dutch budget deficit is below the eurozone limit of 3% next year.

Forecasts

The government’s macro-economic forecasting agency CPB is due to publish its latest estimates for 2014 on Wednesday. The FD says ministers and senior officials will meet this week to start talks on potential spending cuts.

The measures will be published on budget day, which takes place on the third Tuesday in September.

A number of plans have already been leaked. These include a pay freeze for public sector workers, excluding the healthcare sector, a reduction in local authority grants and a tax band freeze, which means people will qualify for the highest tax band more quickly.

Measures to boost efficiency in the healthcare sector are slated to contribute further savings.