That a decision on more coronavirus-related liquidity support for St. Maarten was postponed (see related story) could be expected following the granting of 6% vacation pay last month to civil servants and public education teachers. After all, conditions set by the Kingdom Council of Ministers RMR Netherlands to start phasing out 12.5% in benefits cuts – of which suspending the holiday allowance was part – have not yet been fully met.
The amount of 14 million Netherlands Antillean guilders requested for the third quarter may not seem like much but is badly needed to keep government’s deficit manageable. The Committee for Financial Supervision CFT must now advise whether the payment is covered by the budget.
The good news is that, based on CFT’s comments, Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Alexandra van Huffelen and St. Maarten Finance Minister Ardwell Irion can further arrange this matter. This means it may not have to wait until the next RMR in August.
That’s when a decision will probably be taken on the recommendation by the Aruba Committee for Financial Supervision CAFT to give that country a financial instruction. The Wever-Croes Cabinet already announced it would appeal such.
Aruba’s acting Plenipotentiary Minister in The Hague Juan “Ady” Thijssen said many nations are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and having to dealing with the impact of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine. He pointed out that a growing number of European Union (EU) members are switching to more flexible budgetary rules due to the latter development.
As stated in this column before, the war and its effects on global supplies as well as prices sparked another crisis that is becoming a game-changer in the negative sense also for the islands. This should certainly be considered in any scenario going forward.
