WILLEMSTAD — The General Audit Chamber of Curaçao has concluded that the country’s 2023 national accounts do not present a legally sound or reliable picture of public finances, citing massive budget overruns, unlawful transactions, and structural weaknesses in financial management.
According to the audit, total budget overruns reached 1.226 billion guilders, while additional financial transactions worth 764 million guilders were carried out in violation of applicable laws. As a result, the accounts contain nearly 2 billion guilders in legality errors, far exceeding the legally acceptable threshold.
The report states that Parliament can only approve annual accounts if they provide a faithful and lawful representation of government finances. In this case, the Audit Chamber concludes that the 2023 accounts fail to meet that standard, making approval and discharge of ministers legally problematic.
The findings once again raise concerns about Curaçao’s ability to achieve a clean audit opinion by 2026, a key objective under ongoing financial reform agreements.