WILLEMSTAD - The Central Bank says that reserves of dollars and euros cannot be used to pay for government support programs. That had been advocated in some media.
But the foreign exchange reserves are there to pay for the import of goods and services and also ensure a fixed link between the guilder and the US dollar.
The amount of dollars and euros in cash is currently enough to pay for 3.8 months in imports. This has now risen to above 4 months due to liquidity support from the Netherlands.