Amigoe
Bank of the Netherlands Antilles expects 0.7 percent growth in 2010
WILLEMSTAD — Insofar the Antilles exist in 2010, the Bank of the Netherlands Antilles (BNA) expects that the economy of this country will book a moderate growth of 0.7 percent. According to the BNA, this low growth figure reflects the fact that the most important business partners of the Antilles still struggle with the aftereffects of the international financial crisis of 2008.
The United States as well as Venezuela, the Netherlands and Aruba had experienced a decline in their Gross National Product of respectively minus 2.4; minus 3.3; minus 4.0 and minus 7.6 percent. Venezuela also linked an inflation figure 26.0 percent to such.
Mainly because no substantial price increase is expected for petroleum, the distilled products of such and other goods for (the rest of) 2010, one expects 2010 will show a relatively low inflation figure of around 2.3 percent.
Its nice that one predicts a budgetary surplus for the communal governments for the second consecutive year of as much as 672 million guilders. This is indeed lower than the surplus of 762 million guilders on 2009, but still an entire turn about compared with the deficit of 172 million on 2008. Just like the completely positive development in the balance of national debts to the Gross National Product, the budgetary surpluses are the result of the Dutch debt reconstruction.
Expectations are that mentioned debt quote will reach 57.3 percent in 2010, after this was 73.6 percent for 2009, and the sky-high 82.0 percent in 2008. Without the debt reconstruction and with drastic economy measures as of 2004, this debt quote would have reached 71 percent. A debt quote between 30 and 40 percent is considered acceptable for countries with characteristics as those of the Antilles.
