People’s purchasing power is decreasing due to the rapidly rising inflation. A lot of stuff is getting more expensive. The price increase is expected to continue for a while. Energy prices have skyrocketed in recent months. The Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine has caused the price of oil and gas to rise even further. The conflict is expected to last for months. In addition, the European Union has imposed sanctions against Russia.
Those sanctions are not good for the Dutch economy. Moreover, Russia can come up with countermeasures. The Dutch business community could also be affected by this, or the Russians could supply less gas, causing the gas price to rise even further.
Spring note
The consequences for purchasing power in the short term will become clear in the government’s Spring Memorandum that will be published in April. “I am not going to give any guarantees now that we will fix it all,” Rutte said. “Those are such major developments, we have to see that.”
He does not expect the government’s long-term plans to be jeopardized yet. The cabinet wants to use multi-billion dollar funds to solve climate problems and energy supplies.