Budget 2024 is the first budget to meet LAFT standards
ORANJESTAD - The Ministry of Finance informs that the 2024 budget will be the first measured against these new standards by CAFT.
In December 2023, the Parliament of Aruba unanimously anchored the new budgetary standards for Aruba in the LAFT financial supervision law. It concerns three standards codified in Article 14 of the LAFT Law.
Three Standards
The first standard requires Aruba to have a surplus of at least 1% of the annual GDP. The second standard stipulates that personnel expenses may not exceed 10% of annual GDP, a target by 2027. The third standard dictates that the debt percentage of the Country of Aruba relative to our GDP, the debt ratio, must reach 50% by 2040.
Budget 2024
CAFT will use the three new standards for the first time to monitor the implementation of the 2024 Budget. The Country of Aruba’s budget for 2024 provides for a surplus of 2.2%, according to the latest 2024 Budget Amendment. Personnel expenses amount to 484 million florins, 8% of our GDP. Aruba’s debt is rapidly decreasing and will be 73% of our GDP in 2024, which aligns with the path to follow to reach 50% by 2040.
