The Dutch are ‘poorly informed’ about country’s debt

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The Dutch population is "poorly informed" about the causes of high public debt in their country, according to a survey by The Netherlands Bank, with almost half of the respondents attributing it to support for Europe or failing financial institutions.

The survey notes the Netherland's public debt has grown from 45% of GDP in 2007 to 74% of GDP this year, to around €450 billion. On average, the central bank says, respondents "underestimated Dutch public debt by a considerable margin".

The reason for the debt, it explained, is the €120 billion difference between public revenue and spending. By comparison, the support packages for Dutch banks and European governments amounted to around a third of this.

Of the respondents, 43% were aware of the predominance of the budget deficit, while 47% said the support packages were chiefly responsible for the high levels of public debt. Furthermore, 48% said "it is 'not really' or 'not at all' important to adhere to European budget rules".

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