Dutch shoppers hold purse strings amid downturn

THE HAGUE — With Storm Pia wreaking havoc throughout the Netherlands, the harsh weather conditions have dealt yet another blow to the already sluggish pre-Christmas sales in Amsterdam.

"There has been a noticeable feeling of shopping fatigue among the people living in Amsterdam," a resident who asked for anonymity told Xinhua News Agency.

Long before the storm hit the Dutch shores, however, stubbornly high inflation had cast a shadow over the festive season by prompting Dutch shoppers to watch their budgets more closely.

According to a report by Dutch news website NU.nl, some festive products such as Christmas wreaths and ragout cost 10 percent more now than a year ago.

The latest figures from Statistics Netherlands, or CBS, also confirm that Dutch shoppers are now buying less food and drinks than they did a year earlier.

They are spending more money on fewer products, while the retail sector must rely mainly on higher prices to maintain turnover, the CBS said.

This trend is not expected to reverse any time soon as the Dutch economy appears to be losing steam.

The Dutch economy contracted by 0.3 percent in the third quarter, higher than the earlier projection of 0.2 percent, the CBS said.

The contraction was already the third in a row, following the first two quarters, when the economy shrank by 0.5 and 0.4 percent, respectively.

With three consecutive quarters of contraction, the Dutch economy is now in a technical recession. The last time it continued to shrink for three quarters in a row was during the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009.

CBS economist Peter Hein van Mulligen believes the Dutch economy may remain in the negative spiral in the fourth quarter.

"Consumer confidence is still low and you also see no recovery in the industry," he said.

In a recent forecast, the Dutch central bank DNB said the country's economy is expected to grow only marginally this year, with higher unemployment, a growing number of bankruptcies and less household spending.

The growth rates are anticipated to be 0.1 percent for this year, 0.3 percent next, and 1 percent in 2025, according to the forecast.

"Nowadays I cut back (spending) on everything," said a complaint posted by an anonymous reader of the NU.nl report. "I only buy the essentials and am always looking for special offers. I have become a real miser."

The purchasing power in the Netherlands fell by an average of 1.2 percent last year, the biggest decline in 40 years, said a report published by the CBS in September.

Xinhua