CBCS alters timeline for introduction of Caribbean Guilder

The Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten (CBCS), has issued an update regarding the introduction of the Caribbean guilder which was announced recently. CBCS extended its apologies and stated that instead of introducing the new currency in 2024, the banking authority will follow through with the plan in 2025.

While previous reports were adamant that the change will be initiated in the second half of 2024, following a reassessment, CBCS has come to the realization that the tentative date for the introduction of the new currency will be the 31st of March, 2025.

The CBCS also proceeded with issuing an official statement on the change of plans in which its representative stated the following, “Apologies for any confusion regarding the introduction date caused by the publication of the 2022 Annual Report on December 29 of last year. The 2022 Financial Report had already been completed and adopted by the Supervisory Board of the CBCS back in July 2023. At that time, the introduction date was set for the second half of 2024.”

The statement went on to say the following, “However, in interim consultations with the commercial banks, the target introduction date was definitively postponed to March 31, 2025. As the Annual Report had already been adopted by the Supervisory Board of the CBCS, it was not possible to adjust this information in the Report.”

An important update is that the designs for the new notes, which are meant to replace the outgoing the Netherlands-Antillean guilder. This step has been taken in accordance with the regional constitutional reforms made to both islands in October of 2010, which has facilitated significant changes to the political structure of both islands.

CBCS has also stated that the Caribbean guilder will circulate along with the outgoing currency for a span of 3 months and has set special provisions to allow for the convenient exchange of the older currency.