The Hague, Dec 14 (IANS): Dutch political parties have agreed on a coalition deal which brings together the same four parties serving in the current caretaker government, after nearly nine months of negotiations.

The parties are the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) led by caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), the centre-leftist party Democrats 66 (D66) and the smaller centrist party the Christian Union (CU), reports Xinhua news agency.

With the agreement, the four parties still have to give their formal approval, expected on Tuesday.

The official presentation of the coalition agreement is expected on Wednesday.

After a debate in Parliament on Wednesday, Rutte is widely expected to be appointed as the man to form his team of ministers, the fourth cabinet with him as the Prime Minister.

The whole new cabinet is expected to be presented in January 2022.

The former government with the same four parties stepped down on January 15 this year as a result of the so-called child benefits tax scandal, in which innocent parents were wrongly accused of fraud. Since then, the government has served on caretaker status.

During the general elections in March, Rutte's VVD came out as the winner with 34 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives, or the lower house of the parliament. D66 ended second with 24 seats in Parliament.

Together with CDA (15 seats) and CU (five seats), the new government has a majority of 78 seats.