THE HAGUE--Curaçao and St. Maarten have not reached the point where they can ensure maintaining healthy budgets on their own, wrote the Evaluation Committee for the Financial Supervision Law to the Kingdom Council of Ministers.
The committee led by former banker Ron Gomez Casseres said that despite all the work done since the dismantling of the former Netherlands Antilles per 10-10-10, particularly the financial management remained a point of concern.
The agreement at the time was to evaluate the law and related Committee for Financial Supervision CFT after five years. However, the time is not yet considered ripe to end the special kingdom legislation law completely or even partially to prevent new accumulation of debts as occurred in the Antillean constellation.
Based on a review of 2012, 2013 and 2014, the evaluation committee could not conclude that the two Caribbean countries had independently complied in full with the content of the law. While the budgets started within the norms set, the implementation leaves much room for improvement.
“It is often heard that the financial management at certain ministries is showing stronger progress than at others. The impression exists that making, executing and controlling the budget is a job of the Finance Minister rather than the whole cabinet,” the Evaluation Committee said.
St. Maarten and Curaçao are urged to invest in their own supervision mechanisms, making use of existing or if necessary new organisations. The committee also suggests providing unambiguous criteria to be met for the next evaluation, which it says conceivably can take place before 2018.
Both countries had objected to the initial version of the report back in June. The Kingdom Council of Ministers is not likely to deviate from the advice.
