WILLEMSTAD - According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the recovery of the Curaçao economy could take up to 10 years. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on economic activities and tourism on the island.
Before that, the local economy was already negatively affected by the economic malaise in Venezuela, which had a direct impact on the Isla oil refinery. The financial support from the Netherlands turned out not to be sufficient to prevent a contraction of 20% on Curaçao and 24% on Sint Maarten. The government debt in both countries is respectively 89% of the GDP on Curaçao and 65% of the GDP on Sint Maarten.
The full IMF report can be found here.