WILLEMSTAD, THE HAGUE – Curaçao’s unconditional acceptance of Dutch reform conditions in 2020 did more than unlock hundreds of millions in emergency liquidity support. Newly released Dutch government documents show that the agreement also gave Curaçao access to a one-time €30 million investment in school buildings.
The information appears in documents released by the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations following a request under the Open Government Act (Woo).
The documents provide additional insight into the package of financial incentives and assistance connected to Curaçao’s acceptance of the conditions for the third tranche of COVID-19 support.
According to a Dutch decision-making document, once Curaçao had unconditionally agreed to the conditions attached to the third tranche, the country could also claim €30 million for educational infrastructure.
The funding was separate from the XCG 286 million in liquidity assistance Curaçao required for the remainder of 2020.
Of the €30 million earmarked for schools, €500,000 was intended to be deployed in advance to address urgent problems, including leaking school roofs and safety deficiencies.
The remainder was to be spent under the direction and supervision of the planned Caribbean Entity for Reform and Development, or COHO. Until that organization was established, responsibility would fall to the temporary implementation organization, working together with the Dutch Ministry of Education and Curaçao.
The arrangement demonstrates that the Netherlands’ strategy went beyond attaching conditions to emergency loans.
Acceptance and implementation of the reform package could also unlock additional Dutch investments in areas where Curaçao faced longstanding structural problems.
Other Dutch support related to the rule of law, healthcare and education was similarly connected in the documents to implementation of the reform program.
At the same time, the Netherlands maintained that Curaçao should, in principle, finance reforms through its own budget. Additional Dutch funding was therefore not intended to replace Curaçao’s own financial responsibility for implementing structural changes.
The €30 million for school buildings is significant because deterioration of educational infrastructure had already been a persistent issue on the island. The decision to make €500,000 immediately available for urgent problems shows that Dutch authorities recognized that some deficiencies could not wait for the longer reform process.
The newly released documents do not change the already known fact that Dutch financial support during the pandemic came with conditions. They do, however, provide a clearer picture of the broader financial package surrounding Curaçao’s decision.
Signing the country package not only opened the way to XCG 286 million in additional liquidity support for 2020 but also created access to tens of millions of euros in additional investment.
The documents therefore illustrate how emergency financial assistance, structural reforms and targeted Dutch investment were deliberately brought together in the negotiations between Willemstad and The Hague.