News item | 04-02-2022 | 15:45
Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten do not have to meet the budget standards in 2022 either. That has been decided by the Kingdom Council of Ministers. This means that within certain limits they can spend more money this year than they receive.
The rules for the budget of the countries are laid down by law. It has been agreed that Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten will ensure a balanced budget. This was not possible earlier in 2020 and 2021 due to the global corona pandemic.
The countries asked and then received agreement to deviate from the agreements. The ongoing pandemic and all the resulting consequences mean that countries are again requesting permission to deviate from the stipulated requirements for this year. They got that agreement again.
“I am pleased that we have been able to make these agreements with the countries together,” said State Secretary Van Huffelen of Kingdom Relations.
Until now, the Netherlands has provided aid to the countries with emergency aid loans of approximately one billion euros. There is also ongoing support in the fight against COVID-19. In addition, the Netherlands helped with food packages, for example.
Aruba
Aruba also requested permission from the Kingdom Council of Ministers to partially phase out the salary discount of 12.5%, one of the previously agreed conditions for emergency support. The Kingdom Council of Ministers has not agreed to this, partly because Aruba still calls on the emergency support loans and does not have a balanced budget. It has been agreed that Aruba will make proposals for a different interpretation of the salary discount. It is also examined with the countries under which conditions the salary discount can be phased out in due course.