Following the American economy, the economy in the Eurozone and therefore also in the Netherlands will improve: the worst is over. The second half of 2002 the Dutch economy is expected to grow by 2% compared to the same period last year.
On average however, economic growth will reach only 1% for the year. During 2003 it is expected that the recovery will continue, which may lead to a growth figure of 2.75%.
Noticeably the export will trigger off the economic growth. Exports however will not keep up with global export growth, so that the Netherlands will loose market share.
The main reason for this is the worsening competitive position of Dutch companies due to the relative strong increase in labor costs compared to the competition. Next year it is expected that labor costs will not increase that much, mainly due to an increase in productivity. This in turn contributes to limit inflation and an improvement in profitability.
These are some of the main conclusions in todayÂ's estimates of the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analsys for 2002/2003.
For more information please visit www.cpb.nl.
(source: CPB)
