The financial supervisor projects just XCG 5 million in freely available operating cash at year-end and wants a project-by-project accounting of government investments.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Sint Maarten recorded a preliminary operating surplus of XCG 46 million through June 2026, but ended the same period with XCG 141 million in overdue payments. The Board of Financial Supervision for Curaçao and Sint Maarten (Cft) is urging the government to improve its cash position and reduce those arrears, with freely available operating cash projected at just XCG 5 million by year-end.
In a November 11 letter to Finance Minister Marinka Gumbs, Cft Chair Hans Hoogervorst said that level of liquidity leaves the government little room to absorb unexpected setbacks and meet payment obligations on time. The board provisionally found that Sint Maarten met the central budget standard and the legal requirement to compensate for past deficits. It qualified that finding because parts of the budget fall short of statutory reporting standards. An audited annual account is needed to determine compliance with certainty.
Second-quarter report arrived more than ten weeks late
The Cft received the second-quarter financial report on October 28. The statutory deadline was August 11. The 2026 budget had not been adopted in the first half of the year, and the report compared actual 2026 revenue and spending against the 2025 budget. The Cft also compared against the adopted 2026 budget.
The board said the delays limited the government’s ability to adjust in a timely way. It asked Finance to use the 2026 budget as the benchmark in its third-quarter report, explain significant differences and substantiate its full-year outlook. The government forecasts an operating surplus of XCG 11 million for 2026, compared with XCG 10 million in the adopted budget. The Cft said the report gave no detailed basis for that forecast.
Revenue reached XCG 323 million through June, or 50 percent of the annual budget. Operating expenses totaled XCG 277 million, or 43 percent. Both were about XCG 11 million higher than in the same period last year. Personnel costs rose by XCG 9 million to XCG 122 million as the government filled vacancies and incurred higher salary, overtime and civil-service healthcare costs. Overtime remained above budget.
Reported tax revenue rose from XCG 246 million to XCG 290 million. The Cft said reclassification explained much of the increase. During the first half of 2026, an estimated XCG 25 million previously recorded under other revenue was assigned to the appropriate tax categories. Permit revenue fell from XCG 6 million to XCG 3 million, with the government citing delays in billing and collection.
Only XCG 4 million in government investments recorded through June
The Cft’s capital-account table showed XCG 12 million in first-half spending against a full-year capital budget of XCG 187 million. Of the amount spent, XCG 6 million went to loan repayments, XCG 2 million to student loans and XCG 4 million to government investments.
The board said the government’s capital overview still relied on the 2025 budget and included a refinancing item from the previous year. It also noted that the 2025 year-end report already showed spending against some government investment reserves and against the Mental Health Foundation reserve. The Cft wants an updated accounting for each project and related loan, showing the budgeted amount, actual spending, commitments, remaining schedule and reasons for any delays.
The finding adds context to the November 9 budget debate, when Gumbs told Parliament that XCG 42.1 million in planned 2026 borrowing had shifted to 2027. MPs Sarah Wescot-Williams and Darryl York pressed for details on which projects would be ready to start once funding became available and when the government could realistically submit its 2027 loan request.
SZV, GEBE, TelEm and postal service risks remain unresolved
The board said the financial risks facing the Social and Health Insurance agency (SZV) and government-owned companies remain insufficiently documented. It wants the government to quantify the potential impact on the national budget and identify what it is doing to contain those risks.
For GEBE, the most recent audited accounts available to the Cft were for 2024. They showed a profit of XCG 2 million, down from XCG 18 million in 2023. Receivables and other claims rose to XCG 11 million, with uncertainty about how much it can collect.
TelEm struggled to meet obligations to lenders and requested a government guarantee of XCG 5 million. The government reported that it had yet to grant the request. The CFT said current financial information on Postal Services Sint Maarten was unavailable and described the company as having negative equity and relying on government support to continue operating.
The board also said it still lacks the information it needs to determine whether Sint Maarten exceeds its statutory interest burden limit. The government has yet to formally establish which entities fall within the collective sector for 2024 through 2027, and the Cft is still awaiting reports for 2021 through 2024. It has asked Finance to complete that work and provide the outstanding information.
