Dutch FinMin insists on stricter mortgage measures

The Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem insisted on continuing to strengthen rules for new mortgages in the Netherlands in an interview with Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant on Thursday. The Senate, which forms the States-General of the Netherlands together with the House of Representatives, called on the government to waive the obligation to repay the entire home loan in the course of thirty years and advocates the obligation to only pay half in the same period. "We should just not do that, I give you on a note that if the budget commissioner (Olli Rehn) hears that, he says the Netherlands postpones tackling imbalances yet again," he warned. The Dutch Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) and the Dutch National Bank (DNB) recently announced the Dutch budget deficit will end up at 3.3 percent and 3.5 percent respectively next year, both above the EU limit of 3 percent. The Dutch government had earlier hoped for a deficit of 2.7 percent. The rising budget deficit led to new discussions on whether to abide by the rules. "Economic conditions have deteriorated throughout the eurozone," Dijsselbloem said. "So that might make the discussion different. But it seems politically unwise for me to anticipate now. It is not in our interest to lead this discussion." The 46-year-old politician who became finance minister in the new Dutch government in November has emerged as favorite to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as the next president of the Eurogroup, the meetings of eurozone finance ministers. He has the backing of the French and German governments as well as of Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council. He might be appointed at the next meeting of Ministers of Finance.