Honourable Minister of Finance Hiro Shigemoto along with several officials from the Ministry of Finance on Monday toured the Central Bank of Curacao and Sint Maarten (CBCS) facility on the Pondfill.
Minister Shigemoto wants a fully operational independent Central Bank in Philipsburg by January 1st 2012.
The Council of Ministers last month took a decision with respect to the aforementioned and would like to see the necessary resources in place to facilitate the optimum functioning of the national financial institution which will be able to address pertinent operational and financial matters related to the country.
The Minister and his delegation were briefed about the current state of affairs at the Philipsburg CBSC location and exactly what its current responsibilities entail.
Minister Shigemoto already stated a few weeks ago in a letter to President of the CBCS Emsley Tromp that he would like management to work expeditiously in establishing a fully fledged independent institution that would be in place January 2012.
The Minister also made mention that Government wants to be a part of the staff recruitment and development of the expertise locally.
"It’s been almost eight months since we achieved country status and the building on the Pondfill still does not have the name Central Bank of Curacao and Sint Maarten. There are only three employees working at the bank.
"The aforementioned is indicative of the low level priority that Sint Maarten’s branch has gotten and apparently is still receiving, and this is unacceptable eight months after.
"There are plans, however to build up the bank and I would like to see these executed in order to be able to truly talk about a CBCS," Minister of Finance Shigemoto concluded.