THE HAGUE - The Curaçao government has unconditionally approved the refinancing of the COVID loan of over 900 million guilders on the same day that Deputy Prime Minister Charles Cooper said, "Netherlands can go to hell."
State Secretary Van Huffelen conveyed this in a letter sent to the Second Chamber. As soon as it becomes clear that the solution for the ENNIA pensions, which the Pisas government is still working on, is deemed solid by Dutch experts, Curaçao will be eligible for a lower interest rate. Currently, the country pays 5.1%.
Van Huffelen's says in her letter to the Second Chamber that around October 10th - the date when the COVID loans to Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten expired - she informed the Dutch Parliament several times about the status of the refinancing of these loans. While she was able to inform the MPs on October 11th that Aruba and Sint Maarten had accepted the Netherlands' offer, and the refinancing had been completed, she says she had to be cautious regarding Curaçao. “I can now inform you that a valid loan agreement has also been reached with Curaçao, securing the refinancing for Curaçao for a duration of one year,” says van Huffelen.
“As I explained earlier, the absence of an agreement regarding ENNIA has led to my offering Curaçao a short-term refinancing at an interest rate of 5.1%. This can be converted into a long-term loan at the interest rate that the Netherlands pays, with a slight risk premium, as soon as a financially sound and sustainable agreement on the ENNIA solution is reached. As long as both countries do not require a loan from the Netherlands to settle ENNIA, the Netherlands is not involved in that agreement. However, I believe it is necessary for Dutch experts to assess whether an agreement reached between the parties is indeed sufficiently solid and sustainable, and whether the risks to the budgets of both countries are sufficiently limited before proceeding to long-term refinancing at a more favorable interest rate,” says van Huffelen in her letter.
The State Secretary stated that in the discussions she has had with the Curaçao government over the past few days, it has become clear that they want to expedite the development of an ENNIA agreement. Curaçao wants to move to a lower interest rate and long-term refinancing as soon as possible. They have expressed concerns that the assessment of an agreement by Dutch experts will cause delays. The longer the current loan agreement remains in effect, the more costly it is for Curaçao. Van Huffelen says that she assured Curaçao that this assessment will take place as soon as possible after the presentation of an agreement. “We have also agreed that the time our experts require will not result in additional costs for Curaçao: when the assessment has taken place and has led to a positive judgment, the lower interest rate will retroactively take effect from the moment the agreement was presented to us.”
“As a result of this, Curaçao has now unconditionally agreed to the loan agreement. I am pleased that we have been able to achieve this outcome by keeping the dialogue going and listening to each other. I look forward to a swift agreement on ENNIA so that final clarity can be provided as soon as possible to all residents of Curaçao and Sint Maarten who have taken out their pensions here.”