PVV leader Geert Wilders has said that he will not make any further concessions to his coalition partners in new talks on the government’s finances and dealing with rising inflation.

Several problems with the budget need to be resolved in the spring, and the VVD wants to maintain a tight grip on outgoings, putting the PVV on a potential collision course.

The new government was rushed to turn its 2025 financial plans into concrete measures ahead of the September budget presentation and deferred a number of plans until 2025. The spring statement is also when ministers double-check their figures to ensure the books are balanced.

The cabinet has agreed that all additional expenditure must be offset by cuts elsewhere. However, ministers still need to find a way to fund the decision not to increase value-added tax on cultural activities, newspapers, and sport, as demanded by the opposition.

• Major problems ahead for Dutch right wing coalition

Finance minister Eelco Heinen has said that there is no room for additional spending and has pledged not to alter earlier plans to reserve funds for Ukraine and climate policy.

However, the PVV, pro-countryside BBB, and the NSC have all stated they want to invest more and mitigate the impact of tax increases and other measures on family spending.

“It is set to be a tense spring,” Wilders said on the first day of parliament after the Christmas recess. “Dutch people are finding it hard to make ends meet. We have historically low government debt, and the budget deficit is within the margins, so I am not going to leave the Dutch out in the cold.”

Heinen said during Tuesday’s parliamentary questions that bringing high inflation under control first requires making savings. “It starts with spending less,” he said.

In December, Wilders threatened to pull the plug on the cabinet if his coalition partners rejected draft legislation to curb refugee numbers. He repeated this on Tuesday, saying if calls for more government spending “become a political problem, then that is it.”

“We have already made a lot of concessions,” he said. “We have accepted cuts in healthcare spending and the compromise on the education budget. We are digging in our heels, and it is up to the others to be reasonable.”