The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams received a report from the Social and Economic Council (SER) regarding their unsolicited advice with regards to the possibilities of stepping out of the Monetary Union between St. Maarten and partners within the Kingdom. The report, which was in part compiled by legal advisor to the SER Danielle F. Choennie-Babel, was presented to the Prime Minister by the Chairman of the Social and Economic Council Mr. Rene Richardson. The report outlines various items with regards to St. Maarten and its current currency composition and takes examples of other countries within the Kingdom, Aruba for example, and applies their experiences to St. Maarten’s unique situation within the monetary union.
The SER was established in May of 2011and has as its main goal the advising of government on policies and draft laws in the social and economic field. The Government of St. Maarten requests advice from the SER on matters of a social and economic nature and the SER in turn offers solicited or unsolicited advice to Government on draft laws and policies that fall within its mandate. The Prime Minister initiated the Social Economic Council in May 2011 and conducted the first official meeting of the council at the AC Whaley Legislative Hall that same month.