Netherlands best prepared for subprime crisis: OECD
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THE HAGUE -The Netherlands is the country best prepared to weather the US subprime home loan crisis and will be least affected by the resulting global slowdown, the OECD said on Thursday.
“The Netherlands will be less affected, less impacted than other European countries (as) they are the best prepared,” head of the OECD Angel Gurria said on the sideliness of the presentation of a report on the country’s economy.
Gurria said there had been a slowdown in the global economy sparked by the collapse of the US housing market and the accompanying credit squeeze.
“The Netherlands … are not immune (to the slowdown) but the country is in good shape … the economy is diversified and does not depend too much on any one sector while there is a lot of investment,” Gurria said.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development groups 30 of the world’s largest economies, including the Group of Seven — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
Separately, the OECD report said that to ensure future growth, the Netherlands’ ageing population would have to continue working longer, the labour market needed to be more flexible and immigrants would have to be better qualified.
The report welcomed the return to growth after the stagnation of 2000-2005 but warned against any complaceny and easy decisions.
Unemployment was 4.0 percent in the last three months of 2007, the lowest level among OECD members, but the report stressed that the authorities needed to be watchful on this issue to maintain the country’s high standard of living.
Filed by Egor Ouzikov under Global Financial Crises