WILLEMSTAD – The money supply in the Curaçao-Sint Maarten monetary union is projected to contract by 4.4 percent in 2026, largely because of a decline in net foreign assets, according to the latest Monetary Policy Report of the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS).
The contraction comes despite continued growth in domestic credit and relatively high levels of liquidity within the banking system.
According to the CBCS, the expected decline in net foreign assets will be greater than the increase in net domestic assets during 2026. The reduction in foreign assets is primarily related to lower foreign assets held by the Central Bank as gross official reserves decline.
The situation is expected to change again in 2027.
The CBCS projects that the money supply will expand by 3.4 percent next year, supported by increases in both net foreign assets and net domestic assets. Private-sector credit is expected to be the principal driver of domestic liquidity growth.
The projected contraction in money supply should be viewed together with an expected change in the monetary union's foreign reserves.
Although gross official reserves increased strongly during the first eight months of 2026, the CBCS expects them to decline by approximately XCG 332 million by the end of the year.
A major reason is the planned withdrawal of funds held by the Dutch State at the CBCS.
Those funds largely consist of interest and principal payments previously made by the governments of Curaçao and Sint Maarten to the Netherlands. The Netherlands is repatriating the money from its account at the Central Bank.
Despite the projected decline, the CBCS does not indicate that the monetary union is approaching an immediate reserve shortage.
Average import coverage is expected to remain at approximately 4.9 months in both 2026 and 2027, comfortably above the three-month benchmark used by the Central Bank.
The figures nevertheless show how movements in foreign assets can have a significant effect on monetary conditions in Curaçao and Sint Maarten, even when the domestic economy continues to grow.