Market Information Thursday 18 March 2021

Based on the latest forecasts of the Dutch parliamentary elections, the VVD remains the largest party, with 36 seats, reports ANP news agency. The current coalition: VVD, CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie will obtain 80 seats and will therefore retain its majority. The right-wing and populist parties of PVV, Forum for Democracy and JA21 will obtain 29 seats. The traditional left-wing parties: PvdA, GroenLinks and SP, have had to give up considerably and will have 25 seats, 12 less than in 2017. The Electoral Council will determine the official result on 26 March.

The number of people employed in the Netherlands in February 2021 was almost as high as before the corona crisis. In total, 9 million people had paid work as employees or self-employed persons, reports Statistics Netherlands (CBS). Between March and May last year, shortly after the corona virus outbreak in the Netherlands, the number of workers decreased by 184,000. However, the division into age groups has been rearranged. For example, paid employment in the group between 25 and 45 years old increased compared to a year ago. In contrast, the number of paid employed young people is not yet at the level of early 2020.

On Wednesday, The Federal Reserve (Fed) announced they expect not to increase interest rates for the next two years. According to policymakers, the current low interest rates of 0.00% to 0.25% will remain until 2023. However, inflation is expected to increase to 2.4% this year, which is above the desired level of 2.0%.

The 6M Euribor is unchanged at -0.52% compared to previous business day. The 10Y Swap increased with 4 basis points to 0.05% compared to previous business day.

In the attachment, today’s market data on money and capital market rates as well as other rates are presented.