WILLEMSTAD - Curaçao believes that there are still too many drawbacks to the conditions that the Netherlands sets for phasing out the 12.5 percent salary cut. This is according to the Minister of Finance, Xavier Silvania. He gave a press conference yesterday together with the tax authorities.
The reduction on salaries of government employees was demanded by the Netherlands in 2020 in exchange for liquidity support. That country now finds it logical that the measure should be phased out, because the cost of living has risen enormously since the corona crisis and afterwards.
But State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen believes that the reduction should only be applied to civil servants with the lowest salary and Curaçao does not agree with that.
Silvania indicated that inflation in Curaçao has risen by sixteen percent and that the purchasing power of all civil servants is being affected by this. In addition, salaries have not been indexed for nine years, which has further eroded purchasing power.