The State Council of Ministers and the Council of Ministers, on the recommendation of the
Prime Minister, have approved the appointment of Drs L.M.C. (Lidewijde) Ongering as the
new chairman of the Colleges of Financial Supervision (CFT). In doing so, she succeeds Prof.
Dr. Raymond Gradus, who was chairman of the Colleges from the 1st of July 2017.
With the appointment by the (Central) Council of Ministers, Ms Ongering will become the new
chairman of the Cft Curaçao and Sint Maarten, the College Aruba Financial Supervision and
the Cft Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba as of the 1st of February. Ms Ongering has a long
track record at a large number of departments in The Hague, including those of the Interior
and Kingdom Relations, Infrastructure and Water Management and Economic Affairs and
Climate. At the latter two departments, she held the position of secretary-general. At the
Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, she held the position of Director of Financial and
Economic Affairs during her career.
The Colleges Financial Supervision are independent and monitor the soundness of public
finances of the Countries of Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba and of Dutch Caribbean:
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. The Colleges have a signaling and advisory role.
Alexandra van Huffelen, the State Secretary of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, said: ‘I am
pleased that we have succeeded in finding a person with a solid track record for this important
position. She is a worthy successor to Mr. Gradus, who announced his departure from the 1st
of February in October 2022. The importance of sound finances cannot be stressed enough.
After all, healthy public finances are the basis for making investments that should lead to
greater resilience and sustainable development of the Countries. With the main goal:
increased well-being for all residents.”
Lidewijde Ongering: “I look forward to tackling the challenges together, many of which are
very recognisable to me by the way, from a common perspective. The Cft oversees budgets.
After a number of financially difficult years, the focus is now on recovery and achieving
financially responsible and sustainable economic growth. I will also look very seriously at that
in my new role as chairman Cft.”
Lidewijde Ongering succeeds Raymond Gradus who has been chairman of the Colleges of
Financial Supervision for more than five and a half years. The (National) Council of Ministers
thanks Mr. Gradus for his commitment and dedication to the countries. The State Secretary of
the Interior and Kingdom Relations is responsible for ratifying the appointment by Royal
Decree on behalf of the (Central) Council of Ministers.
