News item | 25-03-2022 | 14:15
The loans totaling more than one billion euros that the Netherlands provided to Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten as emergency support during the Corona pandemic will be refinanced and will remain interest-free. That has been decided by the Kingdom Council of Ministers.
The Netherlands came to the aid of the countries within the kingdom during the pandemic. This includes medical care, but also financially. It lent €441.7 million (Aruban florin 915.5 mln) to Aruba, €448.2 million (Antillean guilder 911 mln) went to Curaçao, while Sint Maarten €141.7 million (Antillean guilder 292.4 mln) received.
The interest-free loans were needed so that countries could continue to pay their bills and subsidize corporate wage costs during the pandemic. For example, bankruptcies and unemployment were prevented when tourism fell as a result of COVID.
These liquidity loans run until April 10, 2022. The financial and economic situation has not yet recovered enough that repayment of the loans would be possible. It has therefore been decided to extend the interest-free loans by 18 months. The intention is to use that time to make long-term agreements about the repayment.
It was also discussed in the Kingdom Council of Ministers that no liquidity support is required from the countries for the second quarter.