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Frequently Asked Questions
The legal interest rate is defined as the maximum interest rate set by law on legally enforceable claims, such as legal judgements and overdue taxes.
The legal interest rate is equal to the pledging rate published by the central bank plus 2 percentage points and is updated twice a year according to the following schedule:
For January 1 - June 30: pledging rate December 1 previous year plus 2 percentage points
For July 1 - December 31: pledging rate June 1 current year plus 2 percentage points
If the pledging rate is not published on December 1 or June 1, the rate of the next day will be used to calculate the legal interest rate.
For more details, please refer to the National Decree (PB 2000 nr. 162) and the Civil Code articles 119 and 120.
The inflation rate is defined as the rate of change of prices. The calculation is based on the change in the consumer price index, CPI. The consumer price index reflects the price change of a basket of goods and services as consumed by an average family household compared to a base period. The consumer price index of the base period is set at 100.
For Curaçao, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) publishes the inflation rate on a monthly basis and annualized (based on the 12-month average). Meanwhile, for Sint Maarten, the inflation rate is published on a bi-monthly basis by the Department of Statistics of Sint Maarten.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is defined as the total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given year. The GDP growth rate is the percentage change of the GDP, generally measured over a period of one year.
The official GDP level is calculated by the statistical authorities of Curaçao and Sint Maarten according to the international System of National Accounts of the United Nations. The CBCS publishes in its Economic Bulletin an estimate of the GDP growth rate of the previous year and a 5-year forecast.
The Official Reserves is defined as the foreign exchange assets and gold held by the Central Bank.
Foreign exchange assets are defined as the total holdings in convertible foreign currencies held by the Central Bank .
The Bank publishes the official reserves on a weekly basis in the Weekly International Reserves report. (Deviezenweekstaat).
Please refer also to:
Starting January 1, 1996, a fee was introduced for the license to operate as a foreign exchange bank. This license fee is assessed on the international transactions of foreign exchange banks and replaced the foreign exchange tax in force through December 1995.
The license fee is calculated on the basis of the payments made by residents to nonresidents, with the exception of the re-investment of funds abroad, the re-exports of the free-zone companies, and payments by the governments of Curacao and Sint Maarten.
For the breakdown of the license fee per country, click here.
Last updated: 03.04.2024 15:04