January 2025 — Budget Battles, Governance Pressure, and Economic Signals
January 2025 opened with intense debate over Curaçao’s fiscal direction, as policymakers, auditors, and financial watchdogs expressed growing concern about the island’s budgetary discipline.
CFT
In the weeks leading up to the new year, the Board of Financial Supervision (Cft) issued a sharp warning to the Curaçao government after identifying a 72 million-guilder overspend in 2024. The Cft, tasked with monitoring the island’s fiscal stability, emphasized that structural shortfalls in budgeting and expenditure control posed risks to long-term financial sustainability, underscoring the need for stringent fiscal discipline.
The audit warning came amid heightened discussion about Curaçao’s 2025 budget framework, which aimed to balance competing priorities of social investment and restraint in public spending. Opinion pieces and editorial commentary in local media explored who stood to benefit from current budget plans and who might bear the brunt of fiscal tightening, highlighting Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas’s role as a central stabilizing force in economic debates.
While broader global economic challenges continued to influence the local outlook, early signs of inflation adjustment and cost-of-living metrics fed into discussions among business leaders and financial analysts, shaping expectations about demand, tourism revenues, and investment in the first quarter.
January also set the stage for one of the most consequential political events of the year: the upcoming March general election. Parties began intensifying campaign activity, and focus sharpened on issues including public spending, transparency, and how to align Curaçao’s fiscal governance with international norms and investor confidence.
February 2025 — Election Campaign, Economic Anxiety, and Oversight Scrutiny
February marked the deepening election season and a growing emphasis on economic credibility and governance oversight in Curaçao.
With the general election scheduled for March 21, political campaigning centered on economic platforms and questions about government accountability and fiscal reform. Letters from analysts and coverage in political opinion spaces underscored calls for greater transparency, especially regarding debt management, public spending practices, and compliance with international financial standards.
Opposition figures in Parliament raised concerns about the government’s economic strategy, including risks to growth and employment — particularly in light of regional challenges such as fluctuating tourism, external monetary pressures, and the ramp-up to the Caribbean guilder transition. Opposition queries touched on potential vulnerabilities in Curaçao’s approach to debt and budget commitments, demanding clarity on legislative choices and oversight responses.
Financial discipline remained a recurring theme as the election drew near: audit reports and external watchdog commentary continued to highlight the need for robust enforcement of budget law and structural reform. In some quarters there was growing urgency to fortify economic governance mechanisms and ensure that any new administration would inherit a more resilient fiscal footing.
At the same time, broader economic discussions — including how international tax changes, such as newly proposed minimum corporate tax frameworks, could affect Curaçao’s investment climate — began gaining traction. These issues would become central talking points throughout both political discourse and business community consultations.
March 2025 — Historic Elections and Economic Crossroads
March was a defining month for Curaçao in 2025, with the general election on March 21 reshaping the political landscape and setting the trajectory for economic and governance policy.
MFK party
In an unprecedented result, the Movement for the Future of Curaçao (MFK) — led by Gilmar Pisas — won an absolute majority in Parliament, securing 13 of 21 seats. This marked the first time a single party achieved such a clear parliamentary majority in Curaçao’s history, giving the MFK significant mandate and political leverage.
The election outcome reflected strong voter preference for stability and decisive leadership amid economic uncertainties. Campaign debates leading up to the vote had centered on issues including public debt, economic reform, poverty reduction, and aligning Curaçao’s fiscal governance with evolving international norms.
With its strengthened position, the new government moved quickly to emphasize commitments to economic recovery and reform. Observers noted that navigating expectations on spending, investment attraction, and public services would be a defining test of leadership in the post-election period.
March also witnessed surrounding developments in macroeconomic policy and monetary transition planning. With preparations continuing toward the introduction of the Caribbean guilder — set to replace the Netherlands Antillean guilder — financial markets and businesses began adjusting expectations about currency flows, exchange rate management, and monetary policy coordination with the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten.
At the same time, Parliament itself underwent internal leadership changes. With new members sworn in and shifts in legislative roles, observers anticipated that institutional priorities — from economic oversight to reform trajectories — would reflect a blend of continuity and renewed political direction under the MFK majority.