Curaçao and St. Maarten
may opt for joint Central
Bank, monetary system
PHILIPSBURG--Political agreement has been reached between Commissioners of Constitutional Affairs Mike Franco of Curaçao and Sarah Wescot-Williams of St. Maarten on one Central Bank and monetary system for the two islands after they obtain their desired country status within the Kingdom. The two Commissioners met in Curaçao on Saturday, June 10, in a meeting facilitated by Constitutional Affairs Minister Roland Duncan.
Duncan said yesterday that he hadn’t been present during the meeting between the two Commissioners, but understood that it had gone well. “From the smiles on the faces of the commissioners I believe all went well. They assured me they are making progress,” he said.
Saying the meeting had gone “very well,” Wescot-Williams said it had been agreed that the two islands would go back to their respective Island Councils to put the proposal for a joint Central Bank and monetary system on the table.
She said St. Maarten’s position on this issue had been clear. “We are willing to discuss cooperation. There areas that we have to work together. The meeting was good because that was recognised,” she said.
She referred to Article 38 of the Kingdom Charter, which deals with the possibilities of cooperation. “We are willing to discuss how and where to anchor down this cooperation,” she added.
Wescot-Williams announced she would meet on this issue and others with the Permanent Committee for Constitutional Affairs (PCCA) made up of members of the Island Council, today, Monday. The intention, she said, was to establish a clear position for the islands summit slated for June 16. At that meeting, which will take place in Curaçao, the islands can hopefully compare positions.
A proponent of one Central Bank and a joint Court of Justice, St. Maarten doesn’t consider it feasible to have one police force, Wescot-Williams reiterated. The island would also like to have its own Prosecutor’s Office. The Dutch Government stated in a so-called “non-paper” presented a little over a week ago that it would like to see one Central Bank, one police force, one Court and one Prosecutor’s Office for the islands.
Wescot-Williams said the islands could disregard some of the undertone of that document, considering that it was a non-paper. Instead, the islands could now focus on the topics in the document. That document, she added, contained some “serious no-no’s” as well as some “ambiguities,” especially where it concerned financial supervision and the interest charges norm.
As for the talks with the smaller islands, Wescot-Williams said eventually Curaçao and St. Maarten would have to sit down with them to discuss concrete cooperation. “We can’t talk about the whole when not all are included,” she said.
Franco confirmed that the meeting had gone well; so well that he and Wescot-Williams had reached political agreement on one Central Bank and monetary system for Curaçao and St. Maarten.
The agreement reached has to do with the clarification given in the non-paper the Dutch Government issued last week on the constitutional reform process, Franco said. “I said from the beginning that I’m very glad that there is clarity now on the Dutch position.”
According to Franco, this clarity helped in the process of Curaçao and St. Maarten possibly reaching a consensus on monetary issues.
“The problem with one monetary system for two different entities was that if one of the entities made a mess out of its public finances it would affect the monetary reserves of the other entity at the same Central Bank. But the way the Dutch Government explained the introduction of an interest charge norm and the supervision on compliance with this norm, it’s impossible for an entity to borrow more money that it has,” Franco said.
In addition, Franco said one monetary system would also entail benefits for the commercial sector, because money transfer between Curaçao and St. Maarten would be free of charge, as it would fall under the same monetary system.
The final draft of this common position of Curaçao and St. Maarten on the monetary system should be ready by Tuesday after the Permanent Committees of Constitutional Affairs of the Curaçao and St. Maarten Island Councils have agreed to the proposal, Franco said. “In the islands summit scheduled to take place at Breezes Hotel in Curaçao on Friday, June 16, the proposal will be discussed before it is sent to the Dutch Government.”
Franco said that if the agreement were approved, one big fist would be made by Curaçao and St. Maarten towards the Netherlands on how the islands want to see their monetary system regulated in the future.
Well informed sources say the common position of Curaçao and St. Maarten will also be forwarded to Aruba for it to study and possibly join the same monetary union. However, Franco said he could not confirm or deny this information.
He expressed the hope that the Curaçao Island Council, with the assurances given by the system proposed by the Dutch Government, would reconsider its original point of view of not being willing to share a Central Bank with other entities, and would go along with this new proposal.
(Gino Bernadina and Suzanne Koelega)
St Maarten vacation rental
