Employers and unions have called on the government to extend the current coronavirus support package to the end of the year and have urged officials to start work on a national recovery plan.

The plan, the VNO-NCW employers group and FNV trade union federation say, should include a commitment not to increase taxes for the next 2.5 years and a moratorium on cost cutting drives.

‘This was an important lesson from the last financial crisis,’ the organisations say. ‘The shoots of recovery must not be damaged by an increase in taxes and by cuts.’

The measures are included in an open letter to Herman Tjeenk Willink, who is currently looking at potential new coalitions in the wake of the March general election.

The recovery plan, they say, should be completed by June 1 and cover the next 2.5 years.

In addition, the government should set up a new fund for people who have found themselves in debt because of the crisis. That fund would take over the debt and allow people 10 years to pay it back.

‘There is a lot of hidden economic and human misery,’ the letter states. ‘We are moving into a phase of great uncertainty. But if we have learned one thing this past year, it is that everything in this crisis is taking longer and predictions often fail to come true.’

They also suggest encouraging early retirement to free up jobs for youngsters and retraining efforts to help people into sectors where there is plenty of work.