THE HAGUE - The Standing Committee for Kingdom Relations of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament wants to hear from the Court of Audit how it views the financial situation of Curacao, Aruba and Sint Maarten. The committee decided to do so today at a so-called procedural meeting.

The committee is mainly concerned with gaining insight into the risks that the poor state of government finances of the countries entails for the Netherlands. Curacao, Aruba and Sint Maarten have been struggling for years with financing deficits. The government debt of Curacao and Sint Maarten is just within what is considered internationally responsible for small economies, but that of Aruba (at 90%) is downright precarious.

The request from the Chamber Committee is part of the preparation for the discussion of the 2020 budget for Kingdom relations and the BES fund (Bonaire, St. Eustatius, Saba). The meeting with the Court if Audit takes place in the first week of October - behind closed doors.