Caribbean guilder also tied to dollar

October 26, 2010 6:07 AM

Now that the Netherlands Antilles has been dismantled, Curaçao and St. Maarten have formed a monetary union and the Central Bank of the Netherlands Antilles has become the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten.

The joint currency will be the Caribbean guilder CMg. Just like the current Antillean guilder NAf., the exchange rate of the Caribbean guilder will be US$1 to CMg1.79.

The Caribbean guilder is not a legal currency yet because the bank notes and coins still have to be designed and printed/struck, respectively. This process has already begun, but will take approximately one and a half years. The Central Bank expects to circulate the new bank notes and coins on a date to be determined later in 2012.

The Antillean guilder will be taken out of circulation within three months after the Caribbean guilder has been put into circulation. Until then, the Antillean guilder will remain the legal currency. During the three-month period after the Caribbean guilder has been released, both the Antillean guilder and the Caribbean guilder will be considered legal currencies. Thereafter, the Caribbean guilder will be the only legal currency on Curaçao and St. Maarten.

From the moment the Caribbean guilder is circulated, Antillean guilders can be exchanged against Caribbean guilders during a period of 30 years with the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten against a one-to-one ratio.

Furthermore, the transfer payments and bank balances in Antillean guilders will remain up to the moment of circulation of the Caribbean guilder.

The American dollar will become the legal currency on Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba on January 1, 2011. The Antillean guilder will remain the legal currency on these islands until that date.

22 October 2010