Ministry of Finance (Netherlands)

The Ministry of Finance (Dutch: Ministerie van Financiën; FIN) is the Dutch Ministry responsible for Economic policy, Monetary policy, Fiscal policy, Tax policy, Incomes policy, Regulations, Government budget and the Financial market. The Ministry was created in 1798 as the Department of Finance of the Batavian Republic. In 1876, it became the Ministry of Finance. The Minister of Finance (Dutch: Minister van Financiën) is the head of the Ministry and a member of the Cabinet of the Netherlands. The current Minister is Wopke Hoekstra.[2]

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Ministry of Finance
Dutch: Ministerie van Financiën
Logo of the Ministry of Finance

Building of the Ministry of Finance
Department overview
Formed12 March 1798 (1798-03-12)
JurisdictionKingdom of the Netherlands
HeadquartersKorte Voorhout 7, The Hague, Netherlands
Employees1,500
Annual budget€11,7 billion (2013)[1]
Minister responsible
Deputy Minister responsible
Department executive
  • Manon Leijten, Secretary-General
WebsiteMinistry of Finance

History

The ministry was founded in 1798. In the early history of the ministry, the Prime Minister often served as Minister of Finance. Pieter Philip van Bosse served as Minister of Finance five times. Since 1965 a State Secretary has been appointed each formation with responsibility for taxation. The most recent Prime Minister to serve as his own Minister of Finance was Jelle Zijlstra (1966–67).

Responsibilities

The ministry has the duty to "guard the treasury and aim for a financially sound and prosperous state of the Netherlands.

  • It is responsible for the income and expenditure of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
  • It collects the taxes and develops fiscal legislation.
  • It seeks to expend the budget of the government responsibly, efficiently and effectively.
  • It is also responsible for financial-economic policy.
  • It supervises the financial markets, banks and financial transfers.

Organisation

The ministry is currently headed by one minister and one State secretary. The ministry's main office is located in the centre of The Hague at the Korte Voorhout. It employs almost 1,500 civil servants. The civil service is headed by a secretary general and a deputy secretary general, who head a system of four directorates general:

  • General Treasury (financial economic policy), lead by the Treasurer-General[3]
    • Agency of the General Treasury
    • Directorate Financing
    • Directorate Financial Markets
    • Directorate Foreign Financial Relations
  • Directorate General for the Budget[4]
    • Directorate Budget Affairs
    • Inspection of National Finances
  • Directorate General for Fiscal Affairs[5]
    • Directorate General Fiscal Policy
    • Directorate Taxation Management
    • Directorate International Affairs and Excise Tax
  • Directorate General for Taxation

It is also responsible for several decentralized services:

The ministry also owns most of the shares the Dutch government owns, which are all nationalized companies. These include

It also responsible for overseeing the independent government financial regulatory agency:

See also

References
  1. (in Dutch) IX Financiën en Nationale Schuld, Rijksoverheid, 18 September 2012
  2. "Wopke Hoekstra (CDA), bezige bij en nu minister van Financiën" (in Dutch). NOS. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  3. "Generale Thesaurie". Rijksoverheid (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  4. "Directoraat-generaal Rijksbegroting". Rijksoverheid (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  5. "Directoraat-generaal voor Fiscale Zaken". Rijksoverheid (in Dutch). Retrieved 1 April 2020.
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