Overview
-
- Milestone: Dutch debit card payments overtake cash
- In 2015 Dutch consumers for the first time made more payments with debit cards than with cash. At stores, petrol stations, bars, restaurants, hotels and other establishments, consumers settled 50% of all payments with debit cards, 49.5% with cash and 0.5% with credit cards. The data was revealed in a joint study by the Dutch Payments Association and De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) into the use of cash and debit cards in the Netherlands in 2015.
- More about DNBulletin: DNBulletin:Milestone: Dutch debit car...
-
- DNBulletin: Alternative labour income share currently relatively low
- The usual method to include the labour income of self-employed persons in the labour income share (or LIS, a measure for labour compensation as a share of value added) leads to an upward distortion of this measure. This distortion has increased since the financial crisis. An alternative LIS method uses the mixed income of self-employed persons as a basis for determining their labour income. The alternative LIS is currently below its long-term average, while the regular LIS is above its long-term average.
- More about DNBulletin: DNBulletin: Alternative labour income...
-
- DNBulletin: Lower unemployment requires higher economic growth
- Unemployment in the Netherlands is falling once again, but at a slower pace than usual. The country’s economic growth is only just sufficient for the unemployment rate to decline. Okun’s law, formulated in 1962, evidently still applies.
- More about DNBulletin: DNBulletin: Lower unemployment requir...
-
- DNBulletin: Contactless payment will soon be available everywhere in Europe
- Most Dutch consumers by now have debit cards that enable contactless payments. More and more payment terminals in the Netherlands accept contactless payments, and the number of these payments is growing rapidly. Elsewhere in Europe the use of contactless payment is also growing, but this does not mean that everywhere cross-border contactless payment has already been enabled.
- More about DNBulletin: DNBulletin: Contactless payment will ...
-
- DNBulletin: Low oil prices are a small short-term plus for the Dutch economy
- Oil prices have plunged in the past 18 months, from USD 114 per barrel of Brent oil in June 2014 to USD 40 per barrel in early March 2016. Oil prices are currently highly volatile and there is a chance that they will remain relatively low also in the medium term. Lower oil prices will have a modestly positive effect on economic growth in the Netherlands in the short term. In the long term, however, prolonged low oil prices will dampen the investments that are necessary to achieve the country's climate ambitions.
- More about DNBulletin: DNBulletin: Low oil prices are a smal...
-
- DNBulletin: Time for transition: towards a carbon-neutral economy
- The Paris climate change agreement has shifted the question from whether there will be a transition towards carbon-neutral energy systems to how this transition should be brought about. DNB regards the energy transition as one of the economy’s key long-term challenges. Although there are still many uncertainties, and opinions about the path to be pursued differ widely, the general consensus is that inaction is no longer an option. In an exploratory study on the transition to a carbon-neutral economy published today, DNB therefore advocates a long-term policy ensuring a timely and controlled transition.
- More about DNBulletin: DNBulletin: Time for transition: towa...
-
- DNBulletin: More slack in labour market than unemployment suggests
- Unemployment less significant as indicator of labour market tension. In addition to the unemployed, one million workers want to work more hours. There are still half a million Dutch people who do not participate in the labour market but who do want to. This underutilised labour force may exert downward pressure on wage growth.
- More about DNBulletin: DNBulletin: More slack in labour mark...
-
- DNBulletin: Does cleanliness pay? Banknote quality and counterfeit money
- The cleaner the banknotes, the easier it is for retail cashiers to identify counterfeits. The condition of the banknotes does not affect consumers as they are not more likely to identify counterfeits from a cleaner set of banknotes. This was the conclusion of a study which De Nederlandsche Bank and the Deutsche Bundesbank conducted among 261 cashiers and 250 consumers. On average, cashiers detected approximately 88% of counterfeit banknotes, while consumers detected 79%. After considering the costs and benefits, the study's findings do not give DNB reason to tighten control requirements in this regard. Annually, DNB checks the authenticity and condition of approximately 450 million banknotes.
- More about DNBulletin: DNBulletin: Does cleanliness pay? Ban...
-
- DNBulletin: Illiquidity amplifies market shocks
-
In the spring of 2015 the German government bond market suffered a shock that came to be known as the "Bund Tantrum." During this period, bonds with low market liquidity and concentrated holdings were subject to greater price volatility than other bonds.
- More about DNBulletin: DNBulletin: Illiquidity amplifies mar...
-
- DNBulletin: Green light for stronger IMF
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is on the eve of a historic doubling of its quota resources to over EUR 600 billion. Also, emerging countries will be given more influence in the IMF. At the same time, the rules under which the IMF can assist countries that face debt repayment problems will be made more flexible and safer. This comprehensive package, which has now become final following the recent ratification by the United States, will make the IMF both more representative and more effective.
- More about DNBulletin: DNBulletin: Green light for stronger IMF
-
- European stress test confirms vulnerabilities of pension funds
- The Dutch pensions sector is vulnerable to financial market shocks, as pension funds have hardly any buffers left to absorb shocks amid the current low-interest environment. In addition, their risk profiles are high from a European perspective. This impression emerges from the results published today of the stress test that EIOPA, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, conducted among European pension funds in 2015. This is the first time that EIOPA performed a stress test of this kind.
- More about DNBulletin: DNBulletin: European stress test conf...
-
- DNBulletin: Attitudes towards raising the statutory retirement age – no conflict of generations
- In 2012, the Dutch government decided to raise the statutory retirement age gradually from 65 to 67 starting in 2013, in a move that had long been considered a political taboo. Based on unique survey data, a recent DNB study has revealed the attitudes of various types of Dutch households towards this measure over time. In spite of opposing interests among younger and older households, it found no evidence of a strong conflict of generations.
- More about DNBulletin: DNBulletin: Attitudes towards raising...
-
- “Shadow banking system smaller than previously thought, but new risks are being created”
- The Dutch shadow banking system is significantly smaller in size than previously estimated. The size and the risks of securitisation vehicles – which played a major role in the credit crisis – have declined substantially. At the same time, however, the rapid worldwide growth of investment funds in the shadow banking system is creating new risks. DNB is seeking to limit these risks through international agreements on the macroprudential use of existing policy instruments. DNB also plans to take steps to ensure proper monitoring of alternative credit platforms, such as crowdfunding and credit unions, so that transparent and resilient alternatives exist alongside bank funding.
- More about DNBulletin: DNBulletin: “Shadow banking system sm...
-
- Careful consideration of interest rate hedging still vitally important under new Financial Assessment Framework
- It remains essential under the new Financial Assessment Framework for pension funds to carefully consider hedging their interest rate risks. This has emerged from a report that De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) prepared at the request of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment . The study was prompted by a motion proposed by member of parliament Roos Vermeij requesting DNB to investigate whether and, if so, to what degree interest rate hedging may cause problems under the new regime. The main premise underlying the motion was that interest rate hedging amid rising interest rates and inflation potentially gives rise to problems.
- More about DNBulletin: DNBulletin: Zorgvuldige afweging omtr...
-
- DNBulletin: A stable health care system requires future-proof buffers
- Dutch health insurers are currently preparing for the introduction of Solvency II, the new framework for insurance supervision that will enter into effect in 2016. As for all other types of insurers, the capital requirements under the new, risk-based system are generally expected to be tighter than under Solvency I. However, as the new supervisory framework takes the risk-mitigating effect of the settlement system for obligatory basic health insurance into account, the capital requirements for health insurers may be about 40% lower.
- More about DNBulletin: DNBulletin: A stable health care syst...