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No. 2022-041
Amid worsening global conditions
Monetary union continues on road to economic recovery
Willemstad/Philipsburg – The Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS) has released its Economic Bulletin of 2022 that includes a preliminary growth estimate for Curaçao and Sint Maarten for 2022 and the outlook for 2023. “Despite a worsened external environment on the back of, among other things, persistently high inflation, tighter financial conditions, and spill-over effects of the war in Ukraine, the monetary union’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continued in 2022. Growth was sustained in both Curaçao and Sint Maarten by a surge in stay-over tourism. Hence, Curaçao recorded a real GDP expansion of 5.9% while the Sint Maarten economy grew by 5.1%,” notes CBCS president Richard Doornbosch.
Compared to the previous outlook in September, the estimate for Curaçao was revised up by 0.4 percentage point due to a stronger than initially expected rebound of stay-over tourism in the second half of 2022. By contrast, the estimate for Sint Maarten was adjusted downward by 0.7 percentage point induced by a slower than initially anticipated recovery of both stay-over and cruise tourism, and delays in reconstruction projects, notably the Princess Juliana International Airport and the general hospital.