THE HAGUE – The COVID-19 emergency has effectively disappeared from new spending under the Dutch Kingdom Relations budget, even as Curaçao continues repaying hundreds of millions of guilders borrowed during the pandemic.
The proposed 2027 budget shows no COVID-related expenditures for 2027.
Only €200,000 remains listed for 2026, connected to a Sint Maarten Landspakket measure. From 2027 onward, the COVID expenditure line falls to zero.
The disappearance of emergency expenditure marks a major shift from the pandemic years, when the Netherlands provided extensive financial assistance to the Caribbean countries.
For Curaçao, however, the financial legacy continues.
The country’s COVID liquidity loan was refinanced in 2024 and still had XCG 842.2 million outstanding as of August 1, 2026.
The loan runs until 2043 and carries 2.9 percent interest.
The distinction illustrates how the pandemic has ended as a direct spending category in the Kingdom Relations budget while remaining a long-term component of Curaçao’s public debt.