Country Reports
2024
June 21, 2024
Republic of Estonia: 2024 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for the Republic of Estonia
Description: Russia’s war on Ukraine triggered supply side disruptions, shifting up price and cost levels compared to the euro area average and hurting competitiveness. These developments added to longer-standing problems. Estonia’s export market share has stalled since soon after the GFC as productivity growth fell and the country’s previous competitive edge slowly eroded.
June 20, 2024
Bosnia and Herzegovina: 2024 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report
Description: Growth decelerated to 1.7 percent in 2023 from 4.2 percent in 2022 but has proven resilient despite ongoing headwinds, such as spillovers from the war in Ukraine and from the economic slowdown in Europe. Inflation has moderated from 17.4 percent in October 2022 to 6 percent, on average, in 2023, but wage pressures linger due to minimum wage increases and emigration. The fiscal balance deteriorated from a surplus of 0.9 percent in 2022 to a deficit of 1.7 percent in 2023, reflecting the accumulated impact of several permanent increases in public wages and social benefits. Progress on structural reforms remains limited, although EU accession talks appear to have sparked some reform ambition.
June 18, 2024
Kingdom of the Netherlands-The Netherlands: Financial Sector Assessment Program- Technical Note on Insurance and Pension Fund Regulation and Supervision
Description: The Dutch insurance sector is undergoing further consolidation, the life sector has been steadily shrinking over the last two decades, and the non-life market is relatively saturated. Sales of new life products, especially individual life business, have decreased since the early 2000s, putting pressure on the business models of life insurers. The non-life market is dominated by compulsory health insurance, which covers medical expenses and has replaced public health insurance in the 1990s. Dutch insurers have also become more domestically oriented–among the large life insurers (or their respective parent groups), those who received government funding during the global financial crisis were required to restructure parts of their business.
June 18, 2024
Kingdom of the Netherlands-The Netherlands: Financial Sector Assessment Program- Technical Note on Banking Supervision
Description: Supervision of less significant institutions (LSIs) is effective in the Netherlands. The De Nederlandsche Bank’s (DNB) supervisory approach to LSI supervision is intrusive and transparent. It builds on well-developed supervisory tools which support strategically focused, ongoing supervisory dialogue with banks. The supervisory framework blends the robust SSM/EU framework with Dutch elements, enriching the spectrum of supervisory techniques and tools. The LSI supervisory capacity is founded in a solid knowledge base of a broader DNB and it is used to cover critical topics, which include, (i) comprehensive and thorough assessments of risk managements’ outcomes, (ii) deep dives into governance, behavior and culture and (iii) the development of the nature risk agenda. DNB and the Autoriteit Financiële Markten (AFM), a conduct supervisor, cooperate very closely while complementing prudential and conduct supervision, to tackle central issues, including Interest-Only (IO) Mortgages. DNB’s LSI supervision also factors-in macroprudential deliverables. Furthermore, the supervisory process relies on strong enforcement and thorough licensing processes, on side of DNB. A vigorous governance of DNB’s LSI supervision includes 2nd and 3rd lines of defense.
June 18, 2024
Kingdom of the Netherlands-The Netherlands: Financial Sector Assessment Program- Technical Note on Supervision and Disclosure of Climate-Related Risks
Description: Dutch financial institutions are exposed to the effects of climate change through both physical and transition risks. Physical risks are mostly represented by flood risk while transition risks are primarily driven by the structure of the Dutch economy, including a significant exposure to agriculture. The Dutch authorities have made significant efforts to respond to climate related risks comprehensively through identification of risk drivers and analysis of their impacts, accompanied by strong policy initiatives aimed for mitigation and adaptation.
June 18, 2024
Kingdom of the Netherlands-The Netherlands: Financial Sector Assessment Program- Technical Note on Macroprudential Policy Framework
Description: Macroprudential policy in the Netherlands has centered on the residential real estate (RRE) market given the importance of this market for households, banks, and insurers. RRE represents nearly 50 percent of total household assets, and housing loans account for about 85 percent of total household liabilities, more than half of Dutch banks’ domestic loan portfolio, and 15 percent of insurers’ assets. Authorities have therefore actively used RRE-related macroprudential tools, such as banks’ capital risk weighting of residential mortgage loans, limits on loan-to-value (LTV) and debt service-to-income (DSTI) ratios for mortgages, or mortgage interest deductibility from taxes (MID).
June 18, 2024
Kingdom of the Netherlands-The Netherlands: Financial Sector Assessment Program- Technical Note on Securities Regulation and Supervision
Description: Regulation of securities and derivatives markets in the European Union (EU) has changed materially since the last Netherlands FSAP, with further reforms underway. Major reforms for securities and derivatives trading were implemented through Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and Regulation II (MiFID II) in 2018, and revisions agreed in 2023 will bring further changes in the coming years, including plans to support greater consolidation of transaction data. In asset management, the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) review is incorporating among other changes enhanced provisions on liquidity management, and for Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) a new regulatory regime for depositories was put in place.
June 18, 2024
Kingdom of the Netherlands-The Netherlands: Financial Sector Assessment Program- Technical Note on Climate Risk Analysis
Description: The Netherlands is exposed to both physical and transition risks from climate change. Due to unique geographic factors, about 60 percent of the land surface in the Netherlands is vulnerable to flooding from the sea and the large rivers, with nearly 26 percent of the land surface below sea level. Also, the Netherlands has high levels of nitrogen depositions from agriculture and transportation, exceeding the critical value set by EU Directives.