| Gerrit Zalm | |
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| In office 27 May 2003 – 22 February 2007 |
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| Prime Minister | Jan Peter Balkenende |
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| Preceded by | Hans Hoogervorst |
| Succeeded by | Wouter Bos |
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| In office 27 May 2003 – 22 February 2007 |
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| Prime Minister | Jan Peter Balkenende |
| Preceded by | Johan Remkes Eduard Bomhoff |
| Succeeded by | Wouter Bos André Rouvoet |
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| In office 22 August 1994 – 22 July 2002 |
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| Prime Minister | Wim Kok |
| Preceded by | Wim Kok |
| Succeeded by | Hans Hoogervorst |
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| Born | 6 May 1952 Enkhuizen, The Netherlands |
| Political party | VVD |
| Alma mater | Vrije Universiteit |
| Occupation | Economist |
| Religion | Agnostic [1] |
Gerrit Zalm (born 6 May 1952) is a former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Netherlands. He was the longest serving Minister of Finance in the history of the Netherlands and has been responsible for numerous reforms of the Dutch economy.
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Career until 1994
Following his graduation from high school ("HBS-A" level), Zalm began a study in economics at the Free University of Amsterdam, from which he graduated in 1975. In the same year he joined the Ministry of Finance. From 1983 he worked for the Ministry of Economic Affairs, where he eventually became a director. In 1988 he was appointed deputy director of the Centraal Planbureau, a state institution that, among other things, calculates the financial effects of government plans. In 1989 he became director there. In that capacity Zalm had, although not formally a politician, a significant influence on politics. From 1990 he also gave lectures at the Free University.
Political career
Between 22 August 1994 and 22 July 2002, Zalm, member of the market liberal party VVD, was Minister of Finance in the first and second Kok administrations. The Dutch economy being very healthy during those years, he did not experience large difficulties. However, he did introduce certain standards that are in effect until now, among which the Zalmnorm (Zalm standard) which describes a state policy by which the state does not respond extremely to economic fluctuations but just counteracts them.During the first, short Balkenende administration, Zalm was the acting leader of the VVD group in parliament. On 27 May 2003 he started his third term as Minister of Finance, in the second Balkenende administration, also serving as Deputy Prime Minister. On 30 June 2006, he succeeded Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst as Minister of Economic Affairs, ad interim, with most tasks delegated to junior minister Karien van Gennip. On 7 July 2006 Joop Wijn was appointed as the new Minister of Economic Affairs.
Career until now
On 26 November 2006, he announced in the Sunday morning talk show Buitenhof that he would step down from politics and would probably seek employment in the private sector. Zalm ended up working for the DSB bank, a bank known for giving loans to lower-income people. On 21 November it was announced by Prime minister Balkenende that Zalm will be the new CEO of the bank resulting from the merger of ABN and Fortis Netherlands, two recently nationalized banks. [2]
References
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