Caribbean guilder arrives in six months and cash remains king
PHILIPSBURG — About half a year from now the Antillean guilder will cease to exist and be replaced by the Caribbean guilder, the new common currency of the monetary union of Curacao and St. Maarten.
The new currency has been long in the making. When both countries obtained autonomous status on October 10, 2010, they already announced the introduction of the Caribbean guilder. It took almost fifteen years before this will become a reality.
In a changing financial environment citizens have expressed concerns about the money they are using to pay for almost everything. According to data provided by the Central Bank, cash will remain king, even after the (potential) introduction of a digital currency in the future.
The Central Bank has acknowledged that the economies of Curacao and St. Maarten are both cash-based. Cash-withdrawals from ATMs confirm this. In 2017 commercial banks reported more than 11.9 million cash withdrawals. In 2022 this number had sharply risen to over 18.9 million, an increase of close to 7 million or more than 58 percent.
The popularity of cash also appears from the number of banknotes in circulation. In 2017 there were 469,676 banknotes out there and in 2022 that number had increased to 526,353. The most popular is the 100-guilder banknote. In 2017 there were 343,674 of these notes in circulation and in 2022 384,571.
The new currency will be introduced per March 31, 2025. The Antillean guilder will remain legal tender for the next twelve months. During this time citizens can exchange their old money for the new currency at commercial banks. These banks may however charge administration costs for the pleasure. Until March 31, 2055 – thirty years after the introduction of the new currency – Antillean guilders can still be swapped for Caribbean guilders at the Central Bank.
The balance on bank accounts will switch from Antillean guilders to Caribbean guilder at no cost to the account holders.
Statistics provided by the Central Bank show that the population of Curacao declined between 2017 and 2022 from 160,012 to 148,925, while St. Maarten’s population increased slightly from 38.654 to 40,978. Gross Domestic Product per capita in Curacao remains moderate with 33,934 guilders in 2017 to 36,962 guilders in 2022. St. Maarten shows much higher numbers: 62,664 guilders in 2017 and 68,709 guilders in 2022. Another difference between the two countries appears from the price index. In Curacao the index jumped from 1.6 percent in 2017 to 7.4 percent in 2022; St. Maarten kept these numbers down: 2.2 percent in 2017 and 3.8 percent in 2022. In other words: prices increased much more in Curacao than they did in St. Maarten.
The Caribbean guilder banknotes will become available in denominations of 200, 100, 50, 20 and 10. There will be seven different coins: 5 guilders, one guilder, fifty cents, a quarter, and ten, five and one cent.
Like the Antillean guilder, the Caribbean guilder will be pegged to the American dollar at 1.79. The value of both guilders is equal.
One of the reasons for introducing a new currency is that the security specifics of the Antillean guilder are obsolete and therefore the banknotes are relatively easy to falsify.
The new currency will be made of high quality cotton. The banknotes are expected to last longer than their predecessor and, according to the Central Bank, they will contribute to a cleaner environment.
Crane Currency, a company based on Dalton, Massachusetts, will print the new banknotes while Ottowa-based Royal Canadian Mint will produce the coins. Provider Joh. Enschedé stopped already some time ago with the production of Antillean guilder bank notes.
The central bank estimates the cost for designing and producing the Caribbean guilder to be around 15 million guilders, a bit less than $8.4 million.
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Related links:
Caribbean guilder website
Central Bank of Curacao & St. Maarten website
Press publications page CBCS
Press release about the Caribbean guilder
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