Under the tutelage of the Kingdom Council of the Netherlands, the new government will intensify its fiscal consolidation efforts, as the fiscal deficit continues to grow. The island recorded a fiscal deficit of Naf254.3m (US$142m) in 2016, but, including loans and grants, this grew to a surplus of 2.9% of GDP. A financial supervision arrangement with the Dutch government will maintain pressure for fiscal reform, but in the meantime expenditure is being held down (a spending freeze has been in place since 2012). Low economic growth in 2017-18 will discourage tax increases. However, aid from the Dutch government following the destructive hurricane season of 2017 will help to stabilise the fiscal deterioration. Although the financial arrangement with the Netherlands is useful in lowering the deficit, the CBCS has criticised it for being too inflexible. Pressure to keep the island's numerous social funds well capitalised and to continue upgrading infrastructure will remain a constant challenge. The public debt/GDP ratio has continued to rise, reaching 45.6% of GDP at end-2016 However, relatively small fiscal deficits in future should prevent a significant rise in the debt stock.