WILLEMSTAD – Curaçao is far behind schedule in its effort to obtain a clean audit opinion on the 2026 national accounts, according to the General Audit Chamber.
In its 2025 annual report, the Audit Chamber states that although progress has been made, there is still no certainty that Curaçao will be able to obtain an unqualified auditor’s opinion on the 2026 financial statements. The reason is clear: all ministries are behind schedule on the Roadmap 2026.
The figures are striking. According to the Roadmap progress report of June 26, 2025, only 23 subprojects had been completed over the past years. That represents just 12 percent of all projects.
By the second quarter of 2025, however, 160 projects should already have been completed. That equals 83 percent of the total. In practical terms, ministries were 71 percentage points behind where they were supposed to be.
The Audit Chamber says it would be very ambitious to expect the remaining 88 percent of the subprojects to be completed in the second half of 2025.
The Roadmap is intended to address long-standing shortcomings in government financial management. These weaknesses have contributed to errors, uncertainties and financial irregularities in previous national accounts.
The Audit Chamber notes that ministers were informed in October 2023 about the errors and uncertainties caused by their respective ministries. They were asked to prepare action plans and report on progress. The Audit Chamber then assessed whether the improvements were sufficient to support the goal of a clean audit opinion in 2026.
The conclusion is that the government is not yet where it needs to be.
A clean audit opinion would be an important milestone for Curaçao’s public finances. It would mean that the country’s annual accounts provide a reliable picture of government finances and that financial management has improved enough to be properly audited.
For now, the Audit Chamber says that goal remains uncertain.