St. Maarten, the Netherlands reach accord
THE HAGUE St. Maarten and the Netherlands signed an accord on Tuesday with regard to the conditions for liquidity support, Dutch State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops announced.
Knops and St. Maarten Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs put their signature under the political agreement in a virtual setting around 10:00am St. Maarten time, 3:00pm Dutch time after several weeks of talks. St. Maarten was the last Dutch Caribbean country to reach an agreement with The Hague. Curaçao and Aruba already signed a deal on November 2 and 13 respectively.
The urgency is high because St. Maarten is in dire needs of liquidity so it can comply with its basic financial obligations. Under this agreement, St. Maarten will immediately receive NAf. 61.2 million (30.6 million euro) in liquidity support for the third tranche, covering the period July 1 until December 31. The agreement will also pave the way for future tranches.