WILLEMSTAD - The College financieel toezicht (Cft) warns that Curaçao has overspent XCG 72 million on subsidies and transfers during the first nine months of 2025, far above the amount approved in the national budget. The supervisory body demands an urgent written explanation from the government, calling the lack of transparency “a significant concern.”
According to the third execution report (UR) for 2025, Curaçao had budgeted XCG 264 million for subsidies and transfers up to the third quarter. Instead, spending reached XCG 336 million, an overrun of more than 27%. The government attributes the increase to “higher subsidy costs,” but provides no detailed breakdown or justification.
The Cft states that a comprehensive explanation is missing, including clarity about whether these higher expenditures are structural, what caused them, and which control measures the government intends to implement.
Overspending despite overall surplus
Ironically, Curaçao is still on track to achieve a sizeable annual surplus on the ordinary service: XCG 238 million, according to the Cft. But the supervisory body warns that this positive result could deteriorate rapidly, given past experiences where surpluses “declined sharply in the final months of the year.”
The Cft urges the government to:
update its year-end forecast,
actively steer toward securing the surplus, and
ensure funds are available for investment and debt reduction.
Investment delays raise new questions
The report also reveals that Curaçao planned XCG 204 million in capital investments for 2025 but achieved only XCG 20 million by the third quarter. Even though the country seeks a XCG 148 million loan from the Netherlands to finance investments, the actual execution is lagging far behind.
The Cft stresses that this mismatch will further inflate Curaçao’s already strong liquidity position — now XCG 282 million — and insists on a multi-year liquidity forecast in future execution reports.