THE HAGUE--Dutch caretaker Minister of Finance Jan Kees de Jager doesn't exclude the possibility that a joint monetary system will be developed for all Dutch Caribbean islands in the future, based on the US dollar.
De Jager stated this in a letter to the Dutch First Chamber on August 17 in response to questions posed by Members of the Senate relating to the Law Monetary System for the BES islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba.
Members of the Socialist Party (SP) had posed numerous questions on this monetary system and also asked about preparations for a monetary and fiscal system for the future countries Curaçao and St. Maarten.
The BES islands will have the US dollar as the official currency effective January 1, 2011. Curaçao and St. Maarten haven't taken a definite decision on their currency and for now will maintain the Antillean guilder as their official currency.
Introducing the US dollar as the official currency for Curaçao and St. Maarten is under consideration. However, considering the required preparation time, these two islands won't be able to introduce a new currency before January 1, 2012, stated De Jager.
If Curaçao and St. Maarten would decide to choose a different currency than the US dollar, the new currency will be linked to the US dollar in a fixed exchange rate. The two islands will have a joint Central Bank. The Dutch Central Bank will oversee monetary affairs in the BES islands.
According to De Jager, the choice to have the US dollar as the official currency for the BES islands hasn't gone unnoticed in Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten and has led to reflection on these islands.
A conference was organised in August 2009 to brainstorm on the advantages and disadvantages of having the US dollar as the official currency in Curaçao and St. Maarten. Aruba's Parliament in May this year adopted a motion in which government was asked to carry out an independent research into the advantages and disadvantages of introducing the US dollar as the official currency. Aruba currently has the Aruban florin, which is linked to the US dollar, just like the Antillean guilder.
"It is possible that one joint monetary system for the Caribbean part of the Kingdom will be realised in the coming years," stated De Jager. The Minister pointed out that the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, in the future the countries Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten are autonomous where it comes to monetary affairs.
The fiscal system of Curaçao and St. Maarten is also an autonomous affair of these islands, stated De Jager. The current Netherlands Antilles fiscal system will be maintained for the islands for now.
But, added the minister, that doesn't keep the future countries from introducing a modernised fiscal system in the future whereby the new system would have to yield sufficient revenues to cover government's expenditures.
The Law Monetary System BES islands has to be approved before October 10, when the new constitutional relations in the Kingdom go into effect and the BES islands become part of the Netherlands as public entities. The plenary handling and voting of this draft law in the First Chamber has been tentatively scheduled for September 28.
