WILLEMSTAD – Curaçao closed the first half of 2025 with a surplus of 173 million guilders on its regular budget, according to the second budget implementation report reviewed by the Board of Financial Supervision (Cft). With this result, the country is currently in compliance with the budgetary rules of the Kingdom Law on Financial Supervision.

Warning of lower surplus by year-end

Despite the positive figures, the Cft cautions that the surplus may shrink by the end of 2025. Revenues from gambling licenses are lagging behind expectations, while spending on subsidies and transfers has exceeded budgeted amounts. The supervisory board urges the government to quickly prepare a year-end forecast and adjust the budget if necessary.

2024 results show investment shortfall

The report also shows that Curaçao ended 2024 with a surplus of 69 million guilders on its regular budget, but a deficit of 98 million on its capital budget. This shortfall resulted from paying for investments out of own funds without recording them as income.

The Cft expressed concern about delays in the implementation of the Roadmap for better financial management. All subprojects are behind schedule, and several planned meetings have been canceled. The investment agenda is also lagging: of the 204 million guilders budgeted for this year, only five million had been spent by mid-2025.

National debt declines slightly

Curaçao is still negotiating with the Netherlands on the repayment and refinancing of a 140 million guilder bond loan. Meanwhile, the country’s total debt has decreased slightly to 4.1 billion guilders, equivalent to 61 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).