Members of the CFT board.
PHILIPSBURG--The Committee for Financial Supervision CFT urges St. Maarten to prioritise adopting the 2024 budget and investment.
CFT said in a press release that St. Maarten is expected to realise a surplus in its operational expenses in 2023 and has indicated that for now the investments are lagging behind compared to the adopted 2023 budget.
“For long the Board of financial supervision Curaçao and Sint Maarten has been concerned about the timely adoption of budgets. CFT has requested St. Maarten to prioritise the adopting of the 2024 budget and to provide it with a multi-annual investment planning,” CFT said in a press release issued early Thursday.
“Up until now St. Maarten has not managed to timely attain an adopted budget. The budget amendment has not been adopted either. CFT emphasises the importance of disposing of sufficient capacity for this purpose. In recent years St. Maarten has not succeeded to take its investments (except for the Trust Fund investments) to a higher level.”
CFT said St. Maarten has included an amount of NAf. 90 million for investments in the adopted 2023 budget. The country has also taken out a loan for the main part (NAf. 61 million). CFT advises St. Maarten to start executing the planned investments as soon as possible.
Lagging behind
CFT said it discussed with the minister of finance the fact that the reforms of the tax system and the modernisation of the Tax Administration Office are lagging behind. “These are necessary in order to increase the tax revenues,” CFT said. St. Maarten is engaged in reforming the room tax on home rental to tourists and the introduction of a tourism tax at entry. “CFT considers this a positive development but accentuates that a broader revision of the tax system still remains as necessary.”
