This Selected Issues paper for the Kingdom of the Netherlands reports the Antillean economy lacks natural resources and is open and undiversified, relying mainly on exports of services such as tourism, international financial services, shipping, and oil refining. Exports and domestic consumer...

This technical note on the Kingdom of the Netherlands—Netherlands reviews the Model of Financial Sector Supervision. The Netherlands authorities have invested considerable thought and effort in designing and implementing the new institutional framework, and we expect that it will make an...

This 2003 Article IV Consultation highlights that after a prolonged recession through the second half of the 1990s, the Netherlands Antilles economy has recently shown some important resilience. With the exchange rate pegged to the U.S. dollar, the Netherlands Antilles has enjoyed low inflation....

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix for Netherlands Antilles examines the economic growth in Small Island Economies. The paper finds that the Small Island Economies as a group grew faster than the rest of the world during 1960–85. The paper analyzes whether Small Island...

This 2002 Article IV Consultation highlights that the real GDP of the Netherlands is projected to rise by 1 percent in 2002, implying a return of growth to about 3 percent at an annual rate in the second half, and to rise by 3 percent in 2003. The pickup reflects an improvement in the worldwide...

This Selected Issues paper highlights that over the past decade, the Netherlands has undergone a remarkable fiscal adjustment, with the deficit, the tax burden, and the expenditure-to-GDP ratio falling significantly. The switch from a deficit-target-based to an expenditure-target-based fiscal...

Although the advent of the single currency has generated many advantages for the smaller economies of the euro area, it has raised the possibility that both the amplitude and the duration of cycles in these countries will prove greater than in the past. In the absence of country-specific...

The strong output growth and labor market performance of recent years reflect both supply-side and demand-side factors. Fiscal restraint has a crucial role to play in containing the risk of further overheating, as well as in a medium-term perspective. Steady gains have been made in labor...

The past decade has witnessed a progressive weakening of the Antillean economy, and prospects for a recovery depend on reinvigorating and sustaining adjustment. There is a need for more vigorous reforms, well coordinated across governments and supported by building social consensus. Fiscal...

Compared with its U.S. and U.K. counterparts, the Labor Tax Credit (LTC) is likely to have more limited effects on incentives for primary-earners to enter the labor force, because of the smaller size of the credit. Any significant increase in the LTC to strengthen its effect on the still large...