Aruba on the trajectory of sustainable and responsible public finance

Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes was in Parliament to discuss the supplementary budget for 2023. The goal of this meeting was to involve Parliamentarians at an early stage, as to what changes the Government wants to bring to the budget. At the beginning of 2022, the Parliament gave the government an authorization within a certain framework to spend the money allocated. But due to certain emergencies that come up year after year, there can always be a need for change. Seeing that a Minister cannot make changes to his budget without approval, he asked Parliament to seek it. Several changes proposed by the government are urgent and require a swift decision.

The vision of the Government, since the Wever-Croes I Cabinet, is to put Aruba on the trajectory of sustainable and responsible public finance. This was certainly not an easy task but with determination it was accomplished. In 2018, the Parliament demanded that the government every half-year, come up with an account of the expenses. This is a practice that the Wever-Croes Cabinet has carried out every year to the fullest, and institutionalized it in the Annual Report submitted to Parliament.

The government’s goal is not only to reduce the country’s debt, but also to involve the parliament in all decisions to this end. The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction at being able to deal with the budgetary changes in the supplementary budget early. This would not have been possible without the dedication and effort of the professionals, who worked tirelessly to achieve this. The government presented a “neutral budget” to Parliament, which means that the budget and surplus that was approved, should not be spent.

It should also be noted that in the supplementary budget there is funding from the Netherlands for the national package and from the European Union for an “early warning system”. Both are inexhaustible resources that cannot simply be spent. The money must be spent through the budget as it comes in, as it goes out, and as it is allocated. With this system, Parliament will have the authority to control the Government.

The Prime Minister thanked all the professionals of the Finance Department and the Directie Wetgeving, who worked tirelessly on the budget. Mr. Raymond Kock is fondly remembered for his dedication to Aruba’s budget, and for leaving behind a dynamic team to carry out his work. Also, the Prime Minister thanks Finance Minister Xiomara Maduro for his vision and determination, and for having this budget as a priority, and for having managed to finalize it on time.