Speech by the Minister at the Outlook event, 13 December 2024
Speech by the Minister at the Outlook event in The Hague, 13 December 2024.
Het gesproken woord geldt.
First of all, let me begin by extending a warm welcome to you all:
Primary Dealers, investors, market participants and other invitees.
Both here at the National Theatre and to everyone joining us on our livestream.
This afternoon we will look back at the state debt financing measures taken in 2024,
and ahead to our plans for 2025.
Today's theme is ‘Dutch Deltas’.
Deltas are typically densely populated and fertile areas.
For me Dutch delta’s refer to growth.
But before you can grow, you have to invest.
And that’s where you have a crucial role to play.
Because you are trading our finance, so we can invest as a government.
The focus today is the financing of our state debt,
and also on the important role you play in relation to it.
In a moment, you will hear more details on the Economic Outlook.
But I can already share the main conclusions with you:
I am an economist so let me focus on the macro-economics here.
The Netherlands is financially in a very good shape.
We have a robust deficit & debt-to-GDP ratio.
Right now as well as in the medium term.
This government is taking measures to keep the deficit below 3 percent.
And by curbing the growth in government spending.
We are back on the path to restoring fiscal discipline.
And I think it is needed after the previous years of high inflation to restore our fiscal discipline.
We also have a triple-A status.
We take the responsibility that comes with this very very seriously.
Looking at the growth of the Dutch economy,
we see positive indicators,
with a 1.5 percent rise projected for 2025.
This is in spite of the turbulent years which I just referred to and we’ve endured,
with a pandemic, an energy crisis and high inflation.
Household consumption in particular is rising sharply.
Public investment, in the form of defence spending, for example,
also contributes to economic growth.
Also, unemployment remains historically low in The Netherlands,
and is projected to be 3.8 percent in 2025.
And who could imagine that when we are talking about employment that the biggest challenge is to find people. We have more vacancies than people. When we look back at economic discussions in the past, it was always about bringing unemployment down. And now it’s about finding the people.
There are also challenges ahead. And this is of course about global fragmentation. And as an open economy it can hurt your economy as well. And this is a problem we are all facing in Europe.
But population ageing is of course also a very important theme here in Europe. , In the future, growth will be more and more reliant on labour productivity.
Let me just say one thing, I am very proud that the Netherlands in the past - I am not taking credit for it - but in the past we made very important pension reforms, which make our economy very robust, in relation to ageing.
We have large pension funds so we saved for ageing. And we coupled the retirement age to the life expectancy. So we made our economy quite robust and resilient to ageing.
So now we have to talk about labour productivity right? Because we are leaving the labour market and economic growth is about labour productivity. And to increase this productivity, we need companies and innovations.
Moreover, the transition to a sustainable economy requires
investment and adaptability from us all.
This is especially important for a country like the Netherlands,
because river deltas are the most vulnerable to climate change. It is important that we combat climate change and that we make our economy and whole society resilient to that. So we invested quite a lot in that.
We are also taking steps to enhance the business climate in this country.
I am a strong believer that when companies want to settle here that creates economic growth. Because companies compete, they create new products and that stimulates innovation, productivity and that creates growth. So for me, for creating a good business, the climate is also very important.
Cooperation with the rest of Europe is also vital for the open Dutch economy.
We continue to promote further integration of the European internal market.
I think that’s where the potential growth is in Europe: integrate that internal market. Especially when you look at the capital market union.
And I see an important role here, also for myself, for the Dutch ministry of Finance, to promote the capital market union.
To make the capital markets more integrated.
And I do see a momentum here in Europe.
I see a lot of younger-generation ministers of Finance who also say we have to move this forward.
Because this is vital for our economic growth in Europe.
And also compared to the United States.
So here I also see a very important role here for the Netherlands and I very much advocate the capital market union.
Furthermore, it is important that the Netherlands continues to play this role in Europe,
precisely because this country is in very good shape.
And I think we could be an example to Europe: what is our path to growth?
The Netherlands excels in innovation.
We have an excellent infrastructure, for example.
And we possess the knowledge and expertise to continue growing for our prosperity.
Our country, right now, is among the world’s major economies.
We are a very small river delta, but we are among the world’s major economies.
We rank 16th globally in terms of highest GDP.
And we rank 12th in terms of highest GDP per capita.
In addition, the Netherlands has the highest employment rate among European Union countries, at 73 percent.
Finally, our disposable income is one of the highest in Europe.
We aim to uphold these excellent standings.
By promoting our economic growth.
By ensuring sound public finances.
I see that as my largest responsibility
With low debt levels and to keep debts also stable.
And with a clear and reliable public spending policy.
Thank you very much for your role in financing the Netherlands’ state debt over the past years.
I hope you see that we spent it well and that we made a good and stable return on it.
And I do so also on behalf of the Dutch State, the Ministry of Finance and the Dutch State Treasury Agency.
We look forward to working with you in the next year.
I hope you enjoy the event and that you find inspiration as well.
Thank you very much.