Dutch government ally wants referendum on leaving eurozone

Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who opposes eurozone bailouts and is a key ally for the Dutch minority government, wants a referendum to let citizens choose to return to the guilder or stay with the euro currency. Wilders, who has seen his popularity decline in opinion polls, told De Telegraaf newspaper a study showed returning to the guilder was cheaper than continuing with the euro.
"The earlier a referendum on the euro and guilder, the better. The Dutch citizen has this right, especially now that we again risk seeing substantial budget cuts," Wilders told Reuters in a telephone text message on Saturday. As leader of the Freedom Party, a populist anti-Islam, anti-immigrant, anti-euro party, Wilders supports the minority Liberals-Christian Democrats government, and will start talks on Monday with the two parties about budget cuts.
Economic forecasts showed on Thursday the Netherlands, in recession since July, faced budget deficits above the European Union limit of 3 percent without spending reductions. Dutch taxpayers have grown increasingly resentful of the high cost of bailing out the eurozone's more heavily indebted members, with opinion polls showing that they are pessimistic about the prospects for the single currency zone.
Independent polling organisation Maurice de Hond found last month that 55 percent of those surveyed wished the Netherlands had stuck with the guilder. The euro study by Lombard Street Research, a UK firm known for being euro sceptic, showed the euro brings benefits of 800 euros per person per year, while it costs 2,700 euros per person per year due to lower economic growth and less consumption as a result of the eurozone debt crisis, the paper said.
A study from the Dutch cabinet's economic analysis bureau CPB showed in November the EU's internal market has a benefit of around 1,500 to 2,200 euros per Dutch citizen per year, and the euro itself bestows a benefit of around 500 euros. When Wilders announced his study in November, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who relies on opposition parties to approve eurozone bailouts, dismissed the idea of returning to the guilder, saying it would be disastrous for the Netherlands' export-oriented economy. Wilders will present the study's full result on Monday.