According to State Secretary for King­dom Relations Zsolt Szabó, the Dutch government is spending more money on the Caribbean Netherlands than it may seem from the budget.

“I would like to give fur­ther clarification to these figures, as the impression could arise that spending on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba is decreasing, es­pecially after 2025-2026,” he wrote in a letter sent to the Dutch Second Cham­ber of Parliament on Fri­day, October 18.

According to Szabo, this is because many incidental or multi-year incidental funds go to the islands in the Caribbean Netherlands.

With each fiscal year, the budgets for the upcoming three years are lower than the current budget. This means that the funds often increase in the future.

For example, the govern­ment spending on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba for 2024 was 448 million euros in the draft 2023 budget, but it became 628 million euros due to additional in­cidental funds.

“In addition,” wrote Sz­abo, “it is worth noting that spending on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba has in­creased substantially over the years. Government spending on the Caribbean Netherlands has increased from 364 million euros in 2019 to now 628 million euros in 2024.

The size of the BES fund million euros in 2024, he has also increased from 43 million euros in 2019 to 94 millions in 2024, he added.

The Daily Herald.