The debate on St. Maarten’s 2019 budget in a plenary session of Parliament starts today, already halfway into the second quarter of the year concerned. Its timely approval is also crucial because continued deficits following the onslaught of record-strength Hurricane Irma in September 2017 require liquidity support from the Netherlands.
A lot of questions were posed and remarks made during the draft’s handling in the Central Committee, but few major changes were made. The main reason for its tardiness is that the income forecasts had originally been too optimistic according to the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT, so additional measures to raise revenue and/or cut cost were necessary.
While adjustments can always be made, as shown in Monday’s meeting on the National Ordinance to comply with Recommendation 29 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regarding financial intelligence units (FIUs), it’s a bit different with a budget. After all, anything that influences the bottom-line figure would have to somehow be compensated for.
The FIU law was also behind schedule, as is the one still to be dealt with this afternoon to help combat money-laundering and the financing of terrorism. It is not without controversy, such as the qualification of a politically exposed person (PEP).
However, these are matters that require prompt action to prevent negative consequences. As such, they are most definitely not to be put off endlessly.
