PHILIPSBURG:--- Members of the board of the CFT told reporters on Wednesday that they met with the Government of St. Maarten (Minister of Finance) and they advised him that he should work on presenting a balanced budget for the year 2014. Chairman of the CFT Age Bakker said that he believed that St. Maarten should present a budget based on their guaranteed income which would be Naf 420M. Bakker said that St. Maarten already depleted its reserves and if they continue on this trend they will not be able to borrow in the future. The recommendations made by the CFT for the 2014 budget is Naf. 20 M less than the 2013 budget.
St. Maarten's member on the board of the CFT Richard Gibson Sr. called on his Editor in Chief at the TODAY Newspaper to direct some of the questions he asked the board of the CFT during their press conference to the Minister of Finance and not the CFT board because the CFT is working with the current agreements St. Maarten has with the Netherlands regarding financial controls.
Gibson further stated that if the principles (government) wants more leverage with its budget and how much deficit they are allowed to have then the Government of St. Maarten would have to approach the Netherlands and renegotiate the agreements they made with the Netherlands prior to St. Maarten becoming a country. The statements made by St. Maarten's member of the CFT did not sit well with at least one member of the media who immediately informed the board of the CFT that the reason for press conferences is for them to provide information (answers) to the questions posed to them.
The Chairman of the CFT Age Bakker made clear that they are always ready to provide information to the media. He said that one of the reasons the CFT gave the Government of St.. Maarten such an advice was for them to open the opportunity for the country to borrow for its investment projects. Bakker said that if and when St. Maarten has more income they can always come back with a budget amendment to increase their budget. He said having a margin of Naf 420M is not an end figure, it's a figure that St. Maarten can realize and if they manage to secure more funds then they can always do budget amendments.
