The coverage ratios of the five biggest Dutch pension funds fell again in the first quarter of 2015, as low interest rates continued to have an impact.

The drop is also partly due to new ways of calculating the ratios using actual interest rates rather than a three-month average.

The coverage ratio shows if a fund has sufficient assets to meet all its liabilities. Dutch pension funds should have a coverage ratio of at least 105%, meaning they have €105 for every €100 they need to pay out in pensions.

Despite doing well with their first quarter investments, the big four Dutch funds have all fallen below this 105%.

APB, the giant civil service fund, has a ratio of 102.6% and said earlier this month that pensions will be frozen for yet another year.

The two engineering funds PMT and PME have similar coverage ratios, while the healthcare fund Zorg en Welzijn has dropped from 108% to 104%. They have not yet said if pensions will rise with inflation this year.

Only the construction sector fund remains above the limit, at 114.4%, but also dropped 0.6 percentage point in the first three months of the year.