Dear Editor,
According to the Advisory Council, more than sixty per cent of households in Curaçao have difficulty meeting their debt obligations. The Council previously reported that in 2023, 30.4 per cent of the population was living below the poverty line. These figures measure different things, but they point in the same direction: many families are under financial pressure in their daily lives.
When a larger share of household income goes toward overdue payments and debt, less money remains for other purchases. This affects businesses, employment and, ultimately, the country’s tax revenues. The Advisory Council has warned the government about these broader consequences.
That is why the budget should show more than simply how much money is allocated to social assistance. In the 2026 budget, more than Cg. 182 million is allocated to the Ministry of Social Development, Labor and Welfare SOAW. Of that amount, more than Cg. 108 million falls under social assistance.
Those funds already have designated purposes. But how many households experiencing payment difficulties are actually being helped with that money? How quickly do they receive assistance? And how many are able to resolve their financial problems in a lasting way?
According to the Advisory Council, the draft 2027 budget does not provide sufficient insight into how SOAW allocates its resources or into the results being achieved through its policies.
Meanwhile, expenditure on goods and services in the draft 2027 budget increases from Cg. 310 million to Cg. 352 million. Subsidies and transfers rise from Cg. 459 million to Cg. 478 million.
These amounts cannot simply be removed from the budget and redirected elsewhere. But government should be able to explain, for each increase, which expenditures are already committed, what results are expected and which decisions could potentially be reconsidered.
The Advisory Council has also pointed to government buildings that have stood vacant for years while the country continues to rent other properties. How much do those leases cost taxpayers every year? Has government calculated what it would cost to put its own buildings back into use?
The projected budget surplus also requires caution. For 2027, government is forecasting a surplus of Cg. 66 million. That projection includes Cg. 82 million in revenue from a new tourist tax, even though according to the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT the legislation and implementation required for that tax have not yet been finalised.
In September, CFT also reported that the promised 2026 budget amendment had still not been submitted, despite spending on social assistance and emergency aid exceeding the amounts originally budgeted. As a result, CFT concluded that the budget does “not provide an accurate picture of reality.” That is a serious criticism.
The first step should be straightforward: determine what kinds of debts households are struggling with, offer assistance as soon as payment arrears begin and establish a workable approach for families dealing with multiple creditors. After that, government should show Parliament how much such an approach would cost, what existing services and assistance programmes are already accomplishing and which expenditures could be organised differently. Once that information is available, government can properly determine how much financial room it actually has.
Until there is a clear picture, it will also remain impossible to determine how much of the problem is caused by a shortage of money and how much is the result of the way government policy and assistance are organised.
Orlando Meulens
Columnist
