WILLEMSTAD - The 2025 supplementary budget contains almost no major austerity measures, despite significant additional expenditures. Instead, the government is largely financing new spending — including support for the Curaçao Medical Center (CMC) and investments in digital infrastructure — by reshuffling funds internally and postponing projects, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The ministry’s explanation notes that the budget remains balanced without broad cuts to social programs or public services.

Offshore wind project postponed to fund new submarine cable

The largest savings come from the government’s decision to pause the floating offshore wind energy project, freeing up nearly 29 million guilders originally reserved for that initiative. These funds will now be redirected to the new international submarine cable, covering a significant part of the investment without new borrowing.

Additionally, several investment lines have been trimmed, including a 4.6 million guilder write-down on the general capital account. 

Lower personnel costs and reduced social security expenses

Government personnel costs have been revised downward by 5 million guilders, based on spending realized in the first months of the year. Actual expenditures came in lower than projected, allowing the government to adjust the budget accordingly.

The allocation for long-term allowances within social security has also been reduced by 3 million guilders, again based on real spending patterns in 2025.

Internal savings through reprioritization

Several ministries are generating additional savings by reprioritizing policies. At the Ministry of Economic Development, policy expenditure has been reduced by 2.5 million guilders.

In education, various budgets have been technically adjusted because obligations came in lower than expected. These include downward revisions in special vocational education and several operational categories.

No broad austerity measures

The government has deliberately chosen not to cover new expenses through generalized budget cuts. Instead, it is relying on:

lower-than-expected spending figures, 

deferred investments, and 

internal reallocations within ministries.

According to the Ministry of Finance, these measures provide sufficient room to finance the new priorities for 2025 without substantially reducing overall government expenditures.