Curaçao Minister of Finance quarrels with central bank for cents | Financial

According to the minister, the director of the bank, the Dutch economist Richard Doornbosch, has decided to remove the cent from the payment system without consulting him. The minister disagrees.

He fears that this threatens a rise in prices. All prices are rounded to the nearest 5 or 10 cents, according to the plan. He calls this undesirable now that the financial situation of many people is very bad due to the consequences of the corona crisis.

On Wednesday he received a letter from the Central Bank with the intention, a day later the letter appeared in the media.

‘Illegal’

The minister called the decision ‘illegitimate’ in a press release sent on Friday. A cent is legal tender. The bank cannot just change that without making changes to the law, according to the minister. The Central Bank emphasizes that the decision was taken after consultation with various stakeholders in society.

The Antillean guilder is legal tender on Curaçao and Sint Maarten. Aruba has its own Central Bank and uses the Aruban florin. The other Antillean islands have the dollar as currency.

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