WILLEMSTAD - According to the President of the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS), the implementation of the measures in the National Package agreed with the Netherlands is "crucial" to accelerate economic recovery.
CBCS President Richard Doornbosch writes this in connection with the publication of the report on the third quarter of 2020. In his report, the president always also discusses current events.
Just as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) previously called the National Package an excellent "opportunity" for the Caribbean countries of the Kingdom to recover, the CBCS president also points out its importance.
Developments in the third quarter underline that even as restrictions were relaxed, fear of travel and potential return problems still hamper the recovery of Curaçao and Sint Maarten's main economic pillar: tourism.
The crisis has also significantly deteriorated public finances. However, Doornbosch warns: “Although measures must be taken to achieve sustainable finances in the future, the pace at which efforts to achieve budgetary equilibrium during the crisis must be as gradual as possible, in order to minimize its negative impact on economic recovery."
The President speaks of an "unprecedented economic and social crisis" as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. He points to the "substantial liquidity support from the Dutch State" during 2020 to offset losses in government revenues and provide financial assistance to the groups in society that have been hit hardest. The Curaçao Country Package was signed in November and Sint Maarten followed a month later.
The corona crisis also took "a heavy toll" in July, August and September, writes Doornbosch. Curaçao's real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by an estimated 20.4 percent, while Sint Maarten registered a 29.9 percent decline in GDP.
Inflation in Curaçao fell from 2.8 percent in the third quarter of 2019 to 2.2 percent in the same period last year. On Sint Maarten there was a slight increase and inflation amounted to 0.6 percent in quarter three of 2020 against 0.5 percent a year earlier.
