Curacao and St. Maarten to welcome new currency more than a decade after becoming autonomous.
The new currency will come into effect on March 31, 2025, and not in the second half of this year as previously reported.
A new joint currency will be launched for the Dutch Caribbean constituent countries of Curacao and St. Maarten more than a decade after they became autonomous within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, according to a recent bank report.
The Caribbean guilder will replace the Netherlands-Antillean guilder as mandated by a regional constitutional reform in October 2010 that changed the political status of Curacao and St. Maarten. They have autonomy over internal affairs, but the king of the Netherlands remains head of state and oversees defence and foreign diplomacy.
The currency will come into effect on March 31, 2025.
The new currency will contain improved security features and will circulate alongside the current currency for three months after its introduction, the bank stated.
Residents in both islands will be able to exchange the current Netherlands-Antillean guilder for the new currency for a period of 30 years at an equal rate.
Source: AP News (January 2024)