The ongoing recession in the Netherlands is expected to continue until the second half of this year, and the economy is likely to grow modestly from 2013 to 2015, the Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) said Tuesday.

The Dutch economy may contract 0.75 percent in 2012, before growing modestly by 1.25 percent in 2013 and by 1.5 percent each in 2014 and 2015, the agency said. It, however, cautioned that until 2014, the size of the economy is not expected to exceed that of the first quarter of 2008, though a modest recovery of world trade and the positive trend in the German economy offers the Dutch export market some hope.

CPB said that Netherlands' budget deficit for 2013 is expected to be 4.6 percent of the GDP, slightly higher than 4.5 percent estimated earlier.

The forecaster said the country's economic performance is likely to be influenced by rising unemployment and low household consumption as a consequence of higher pension contributions, lower pension payments, restrictive government policy and falling house prices.

RTTNews