NETHERLANDS – Dutch MP Steven van Weyenberg of the centre-right party D66 has demanded the Dutch Cabinet clarify the projected results of the government’s measures regarding pension savings.

Van Weyenberg called on the government to provide an answer before general political deliberations, scheduled for today.

The MP’s demands come in response to a report published by IPE sister publication IPNederland, which showed that the government’s estimates for the savings resulting from the lowering of tax-facilitated pensions over the 2015-2017 period were, in fact, €3.5bn less than forecast.

Van Weyenberg asked the Cabinet whether the savings were so much lower than forecast by the government.

“Is it true the savings as stated in the Budget amount to just half of what had been forecast earlier, and just half of what Parliament has been told previously?” he asked.

“If so, how does this add up, exactly?”

The Department of Finance has so far not answered additional questions posed by IPNederland regarding discrepancies between figures in this year’s Budget and the previous year’s Budget.

Among other things, IPNederland asked the Ministry of Finance to itemise differences in budgetary weight between the two budgets in terms of interest rate developments, longevity and employment rate.

These are factors the Department of Finance listed as contributing to the cause of the discrepancies, along with a tightening of discounting regulations for pension funds introduced in the new supervisory regime.

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