The two parties which make up the outgoing coalition government are holding last ditch talks on Wednesday in a bid to reach a deal on a budget for next year.

The VVD and Labour have to finalise a budget for 2018 because the new cabinet has not yet taken office but are sharply divided over teachers pay.

Labour leader Lodewijk Asscher said earlier he would refuse to sign off on the spending plans unless there is more money for primary school teachers.

At first it appeared as if a deal had been reached, but on Monday it emerged that the VVD wants to leave the issue up to the next government.

Talks on forming a new administration are continuing but no agreement has yet been reached on the broader financial picture.

The 2018 spending plans, which will be presented to parliament on September 19, have to be finalised today.

‘We are working on a solution,’ PvdA leader Lodewijk Asscher said on Tuesday after an emergency meeting of the coalition parties. ‘We are trying to avoid any accidents’, said prime minister Mark Rutte.

Sources told the Volkskrant that Asscher and finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem made a number of proposals to defer a final decision on funding for education until the parties in the formation talks know more about their complete financial plans.