No official economic data for the external accounts of St Maarten and Curaçao exist as yet. Only data for the Federation of the Netherlands Antilles exist at the moment. The current-account deficit of the Federation widened during the first nine months of 2010 to almost US$900m, owing to a deterioration in the current transfers balance. A worsening of the trade deficit-owing to a combination of contracting merchandise export earnings and a rise in spending on oil imports-also contributed to a deterioration in the current-account. The current transfers surplus halved as the substantial inflows from the Dutch government for debt relief tailed off further in the third quarter of 2010. The services account was stable, underpinning a slight improvement in Netherlands Antilles tourism (especially in St Maarten, which expanded its cruise ship capacity) during the second and third quarters. These data will boost the authorities of the newly-independent St Maarten as they attempt to generate an economic recovery.

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