The current Dutch Bank Act allows the Minister of Finance to give directions to the central bank, a possibility which has never been used and will be cancelled in the new Bank Act, to become effective in 1998. In other words, the Dutch central bank is de facto fully independent. Nevertheless, there is an intensive dialogue between the Bank and the Ministry of Finance.
The President of the Netherlands Bank and the Minister of Finance hold regular, bi-weekly luncheon sessions to discuss informally - topics of relevance for both the central bank and the Ministry of Finance. Moreover, top-level officials of both institutions meet regularly and there are also good day-to-day working relationships between employees of both the central bank and the ministry.