Credit crisis website updated
The Court of Audit has updated its website on the measures taken by the Dutch government to combat the crisis in the financial sector (see http://kredietcrisis.rekenkamer.nl/).
The House of Representatives was informed of the changes by letter. The State of the Netherlands has taken a series of measures worth nearly €43 billion. The figure was nearly twice as high in 2008. Guarantees provided by the State have also declined, to nearly €18 billion at the end of 2012 (down from nearly €80 billion in 2009). The interest paid by the State for its interventions in the financial sector has been declining since 2009, but still amounted to more than €1 billion in 2012. The acquisition of ABN AMRO alone cost the State €948 million in interest expense. On the other hand, the State received dividend and interest payments from the bank, equal to about half the interest expense paid by the State.
The website also presents the figures on the €2.2 billion capital injection in the nationalised SNS REAAL bank/insurance group and on the State loans granted to it. In 2012 the financial sector repurchased loan guarantees to an amount of €1.2 billion. In the first quarter of 2013, it repurchased a further €0.9 billion.
In the aftermath of the collapse of Icesave, the Netherlands received €290.5 million in 2012 from the bankrupt estate of the Icelandic banking institution, Landsbanki. A claim of more than €700 million is still outstanding.