THE HAGUE - The Dutch Senate has approved a budget amendment related to the COVID-19 support provided to Curaçao from the Netherlands. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Netherlands agreed to provide liquidity support to Curaçao. The Dutch Senate has decided that this funding necessitates an adjustment to the Netherlands' budget.
The Netherlands has altered its budget to facilitate the refinancing of €448.2 million in COVID-19 loans to Curaçao. This includes the loans provided to Sint Maarten and Aruba, totaling €1.1 billion for the Netherlands.
The Dutch political parties, the Party for Freedom and the Forum for Democracy, voted against the proposal, while the rest of the Senate members approved it. The two aforementioned parties that voted against the proposal question whether the amount will ultimately be forgiven because, in their view, Curaçao does not have the means to repay it in the future.
The Netherlands has proposed refinancing, but it is not yet clear whether Curaçao or Aruba will agree to it. Sint Maarten has already stated that they accept the refinancing.