Curacao and St. Maarten to welcome new currency more than a decade after becoming autonomous

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A new joint currency will be launched this year for the Dutch Caribbean islands of Curacao and St. Maarten more than a decade after they became autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.  A recent bank report states that the Caribbean guilder will replace the Netherlands-Antillean guilder as mandated by a regional constitutional reform that took effect in October 2010. An annual report that the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten released late last year states that currency will be introduced in the second half of 2024. Residents in both island countries will be able to exchange the current Netherlands-Antillean guilder for the new currency for a period of 30 years at an equal rate.