Tag Archives: Dutch Sint Maarten’s Debt Increased To 1.2 BILLION. Austerity Measures Taking Effect

The debt of the Sint Maarten public sector is estimated at 936 million and the debt ratio of the public sector at 51 percent of GDP. The calculation of the debt ratios is based on a GDP of Sint Maarten – the total size of the economy – of 1,835 million (over 1.8 billion). The Implementation Report up to and including the fourth quarter shows a provisional budget deficit of 197 million. This deficit is lower than budgeted (263 million), mainly due to slightly higher tax revenues (than budgeted), lower personnel costs and lower costs for goods and services. Incidentally, the deficit of the government of Sint Maarten is higher than the maximum deficit allowed by the Council of Ministers (RMR) for the time being (of 186 million). This is evident from the most recent letter from the Financial Supervision Council (Cft). The Cft received the fourth Implementation Report 2020 on 19 February. In accordance with the Financial Supervision Act (Rft), the Cft receives the report no later than six weeks after the end of each quarter. The fourth quarter report should have been submitted no later than February 11, so “was submitted with a delay.” In response to the global corona crisis, Sint Maarten also had to take drastic measures. Additional liquidity was required for the support measures. In 2020, partly on the basis of advice from the Cft, the RMR provided for the additional liquidity need by means of four tranches with

Continue reading →