WILLEMSTAD – The Dutch cabinet has concluded that Curaçao and Sint Maarten still lack a coherent long-term vision for public finances, despite years of financial supervision under the Kingdom Act on Financial Supervision (Rft).
In its response to a policy review of Article 5 of Kingdom Relations, the cabinet noted that the current framework largely forces governments to focus on annual balanced budgets, leaving little room for strategic long-term planning or counter-cyclical economic policy.
While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) advises that countries should first achieve a sustainable debt ratio before adopting counter-cyclical fiscal policies, the cabinet acknowledged that the existing Rft framework offers limited flexibility. The Dutch government stated it is open to exploring policy rules that allow some degree of counter-cyclical policy, provided this remains within legal boundaries and does not jeopardize debt sustainability.
However, the cabinet emphasized that developing a long-term fiscal vision remains the responsibility of the countries themselves.