Kingdom of the Netherlands-Netherlands: Selected Issues
IMF Staff Country Reports, April 3, 2017
Source details
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- Kingdom of the Netherlands-Netherlands: Selected Issues
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Bibliographic details
- Published: April 3, 2017
- Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781475591507.002
Summary
- Focus: steady increase in current account surpluses in “Surplus 3” countries—Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland—since the mid-1990s.
- Mechanism differences by country:
- Germany and the Netherlands: nonfinancial corporations appear to be behind the rising surpluses.
- Switzerland: household savings explain the bulk of the current account surplus; both mandatory and voluntary savings have been on an increasing trend since 2000.
Key findings on drivers of current account surpluses
- Germany and the Netherlands:
- Increasing corporate profits have not been converted into dividends, keeping a lid on consumption.
- Nonfinancial corporations are implicated as primary contributors to the rising surpluses.
- Switzerland:
- Household savings (mandatory and voluntary) have been on an increasing trend since 2000.
- Trending net contributions to pension funds since 2000 are likely drivers.
- Rising equity contribution for housing purchases is also likely a driver.
Analytical themes and concepts covered
- Balance of payments
- Current account and current account surpluses
- Savings-investment dynamics (government savings-investment balance; savings-investment surplus)
- Income and income effect
- Substitution effect
- Trade balance and international trade
- Real effective exchange rates
- Labor supply and labor tax wedge
- Foreign exchange
- Lending-borrowing balance
- Elasticity assumption and elasticity case
- NICs, ISCR
Content in this bundle
- Country Report