WILLEMSTAD - The economies of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten (CAS countries) are expected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to recover in the coming years. However, there are tempo differences per country.
The IMF expects Curaçao to grow by two percent this year and seven percent next year. The organization foresees structural economic growth of one percent from 2026. Sint Maarten would experience a growth of twelve percent. The IMF expects Aruba growth of 13 percent this year and 7.5 percent next year.
The economic growth for Sint Maarten after 2024 is expected to be higher than in Curaçao and Aruba. The completion of the rehabilitation works at Princess Juliana Airport would make a positive contribution to economic growth.
Due to the corona pandemic, the CAS countries have become dependent on Dutch liquidity support. The debt-to-GDP ratio is the total national debt relative to gross domestic product (GPP). Aruba will have 117 percent of GDP this year. The IMF expects this to be less than 100 percent of GDP by 2026.
In Sint Maarten, the peak would be seventy percent of GDP and 95 percent for Curaçao. These figures are slightly more favorable than those of Aruba. The organization assumes that Sint Maarten will experience a decrease to 63 percent in 2025 and Curaçao a decrease to 77 percent.
“We assume that Sint Maarten will still have shortages on the regular service until 2026 and Curaçao until 2024. This means that Sint Maarten until 2025 and Curaçao until 2023 would be dependent on Dutch liquidity support,” according to the IMF.