AMSTERDAM: The Dutch economy continues to expand and is now above the pre-2008 crash level, the government’s macro-economic think tank CPB said on Tuesday.
In its December report, the CPB forecast economic growth in 2017 at 2.1% of GDP, up from its prediction of only 1.7% three months earlier. The CPB ascribed this to increased household spending power, higher investment and a somewhat buoyant housing market. A slower increase in global trade was more than compensated for by strong domestic growth, the report said.
The improved state of the budget is due to tax windfalls and the healthy state of the economy next year. More people now have jobs and unemployment will fall to 5.3% in 2017, the CPB said.
The national budget is also expected to be in balance in 2017 for the first time in nine years, the CPB said.
