WILLEMSTAD - The General Audit Chamber has warned that a persistent shortage of qualified financial staff across ministries is severely delaying the government’s financial reform efforts and could derail Curaçao’s plan to obtain a clean audit opinion by 2026.

In its August 2025 assessment, the Chamber notes that many key financial control and audit positions remain vacant, slowing the execution of improvement projects under the Roadmap 2026 and the Landspakket reform agenda.

“Several financial functions still need to be filled. Because of the scarcity of skilled labor, it will be difficult to execute so many projects simultaneously,” the report states.

The lack of personnel not only hampers daily financial operations but also prevents ministries from testing the effectiveness of new internal control systems (AO/IB) — one of the main requirements for earning a clean audit opinion. The Chamber warns that even where policies have been introduced on paper, their practical enforcement cannot be verified without adequate staff to carry out audits and reviews.

The Ministry of Finance has been urged to prioritize the recruitment and training of financial controllers and internal auditors, ensuring that improvements are not limited to administrative paperwork but translate into real operational discipline.

Without swift action, the report concludes, Curaçao risks entering 2026 with an incomplete reform process, undermining both fiscal transparency and public confidence in government accountability.