Dutch central bank president Klaas Knot has said the cabinet would not be sensible to give everyone a discount on their energy bills next year.

The cabinet would then be treading an ‘unsustainable path’, Knot told television current affairs show Buitenhof on Sunday when asked about the strategy, which does not differentiate between high and low income households.

Each household will get a €190 discount on their energy bills in November and December, and in January a price cap will come into effect, which will run throughout 2023.

Knot told the programme that this sort of unlimited support package inevitably would lead to spending cuts.

‘We need to make sure that support is targeted at those who need it, that it is temporary and that it is properly financed,’ the central bank chief said.

Knot said he had high hopes that the government would begin reconsidering the strategy after the spring financial statement. ‘In my talks with the cabinet I have felt a will to think actively about the problem,’ he said.

‘Money does not grow on trees and if you want to spend more, you have to ask yourself each time, where the money should come from,’ he said.

The government said in September it expected the discount and price cap package to cost almost €24 billion.