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International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
The 2024 Article IV Consultation presents that Curaçao and Sint Maarten have continued to experience a vigorous post-pandemic recovery underpinned by strong stayover tourism, which is outperforming Caribbean peers. Headline inflation has declined rapidly led by international oil price developments, notwithstanding a recent uptick, while core inflation remains elevated. In both countries, current account deficits improved markedly from pandemic years but remain high. Fiscal positions remained strong and in compliance with the fiscal rule. Growth is expected to accelerate in 2024 before gradually converging to its potential over the medium term. Stayover tourism supported by fiscal expansion is projected to drive economic growth at a robust 4.5 percent in 2024 due to new airlifts and further expansion in hotel capacity. Both countries need more public investments and strategies to improve tourist experience and enhance tourism’s value added, including adequate infrastructure to allow for timely ground transportation and continued efforts to improve the quality of services provided.
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
The 2023 Article IV Consultation with Kingdom of The Netherlands—Curaçao and Sint Maarten continue to recover from major shocks. Both countries have had two years of robust growth driven by a strong rebound of tourism, although the benefits of recovery have not reached all sectors. The recovery in tourist arrivals was among the fastest in the Caribbean and the current outcomes are above the pre-pandemic levels. Sint Maarten has further to go to reach levels seen before hurricane Irma in 2017. Similar to other countries, Curaçao experienced a strong bout of inflation, which affected the vulnerable. The international reserves of the monetary union of Curaçao and Sint Maarten remain at a comfortable level despite the elevated external current account deficit, which was due in part to higher import prices. The banking system remains well capitalized and liquid. After a robust recovery in 2022, estimated at 7.9 percent, output growth is expected to moderate. With post-pandemic recovery growth largely accomplished, activity is expected to encounter harder supply constraints going forward, including hotel room inventory and airport reconstruction. The authorities in both countries should implement broad-based structural reforms to support a robust and inclusive recovery, improve resilience to climate change, limit fiscal risks, and safeguard debt sustainability.
Brian Kwok Chung Yee
and
Ms. Bidisha Das
This paper discusses the high-level summary technical assistance report for Curaçao and Sint Maarten on financial soundness indicators (FSI). The High-Level Summary Technical Assistance Report series provides high-level summaries of the assistance provided to IMF capacity development recipients, describing the high-level objectives, findings, and recommendations. The mission, in collaboration with the staff of the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS), successfully developed bridge tables to compile FSIs for commercial banks and savings banks, which could be linked in the long term with its database to automate the FSIs compilation process. The mission also identified a few areas for improvements related to the data collection framework for the deposit takers to be implemented in the medium term. As a result of the mission, the CBCS is able to start reporting the FSI-standard reports, financial soundness metadata, and financial soundness institutional coverage for dissemination on the IMF’s FSI website for Curaçao and Sint Maarten. A timeframe for implementing the mission recommendations including reporting FSIs to statistics department was also discussed and agreed on with the CBCS staff.
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
The economies of Curaçao and Sint Maarten are recovering from the pandemic but facing multiple challenges, including spillovers from the war in Ukraine. Curaçao was in a protracted recession even before the pandemic due to spillovers from the Venezuelan crisis. Sint Maarten needs to fully recover not only from the pandemic, but also from the devastating 2017 hurricanes.
International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
The CBvCSM is the sole supervisory authority for all regulated financial institutions operating locally and in the offshore (or international) sector, as well as the stock exchange in Curacao and St Maarten. The financial sector comprises different types of institutions, which include banks and non-bank institutions, insurance companies (both Life, and Non-life), securities intermediaries, asset management firms, investments institutions, fund administrators, management of pension funds, reinsurers, and trust companies.
International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept.
Sint Maarten’s economy has been hit hard over the last 4 years. In 2017, two major hurricanes struck the island causing significant damage. While reconstruction was largely financed by insurance proceeds and grants from The Netherlands, economic recovery from the hurricane damage was slow and in early 2020 the coronavirus pandemic shut down most of Sint Maarten’s tourism sector. As a result, fiscal revenue declined by 15 percent since 2016; payroll tax revenue declined by only 4.5 percent, whereas the turnover tax revenue declined by 23 percent. Since April 2020, The Netherlands has provided immediate financial support to cushion the economic shock of the pandemic. In December 2020, Sint Maarten concluded an agreement with The Netherlands to receive more substantial financial support for recovery and ensuring long-term fiscal sustainability. In return, the authorities committed to make structural changes to their tax system, making it more growth-friendly and equitable, while optimizing and ensuring its revenue mobilization capacity.
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
The COVID-19 pandemic inflicted another major shock on the economies of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, which followed category 5 hurricanes in Sint Maarten in 2017 and the spillovers of the Venezuelan crisis on Curaçao. Despite the substantial response measures financed by The Netherlands, the economic contraction in 2020 was severe.