WILLEMSTAD - The Council of Ministers has approved the proposal to introduce the Caribbean guilder in Curaçao and Sint Maarten. The islands' finance ministers aim to adopt the new currency in January 2024.  

The Curaçao Minister of Finance Javier Silvania of the MFK party says that it is not advisable to use the Antillean guilder for much longer. The minister reported this on social media. After the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles in 2010, Curaçao and Sint Maarten form a monetary union, but still no new currency has been introduced on the islands. This is partly due to the very high production costs for bills.  

Our economy has recovered sufficiently in the past six months, according to Silvania. That is why it would now be time for the introduction of the Caribbean guilder. According to the minister, the introduction of our own currency is important for our own identity and national pride.