ORANJESTAD - In a letter to the President of Parliament on Thursday evening, Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes gave an update to Parliament about the negotiations with the Netherlands on the conditions for the continuation of the financial support in the context of COVID-19.

The latest versions of the letter of conditions, the national package, and the two draft statutes of Aruba financial supervision (RAft) and the Body for Reform and Recovery Aruba (OHHA) have been added to this. Also attached is the draft for the Agreement, which explicitly states that the Agreement will lapse if the required consensus is missing or has lapsed, during the approval procedure.

To the great surprise of Premier Wever-Croes, radical changes have been made in the latest version - again at the last moment - without prior consultation. A salient change in the package of conditions is that the AWG 204 million of the 3rd tranche is not provided for the months of July, August and September in accordance with the advice of the Aruba Financial Supervision Board, but for the months of July through November. AWG 204 million for 5 months instead of the 3 months requested and approved by the CAft.

This creates an additional liquidity shortage. Contrary to the advice of the CAft, this change took place without consultation, making it more difficult for Aruba to accept the package of conditions as it is now on the table.

It is not disputed that there is a change. Undersecretary Raymond Knops does not believe that this is a significant change, but a logical change that should not have been discussed in advance. The Prime Minister of Aruba does not appreciate this attitude. "If you force us to borrow AWG 136 million at a high cost, then that is a significant change in our view."

This loan is needed because Aruba has delayed payments until September for the past two months. This was known to the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK). At least BZK could have discussed this. These developments do not contribute to constructive negotiations.

The government of Aruba is now forced to look for financing for the additional liquidity shortage, and has been able to establish that there is interest in the financial market. Efforts are now underway to formalize funding, and this provides the necessary scope for negotiations to continue.