Suriname and the Netherlands rebuild old bridges 🇳🇱🇸🇷

Happy Monday

This week we're talking about Mark Rutte's first visit to Suriname, the increasing exchange rates and how the President is tackling the issue, and updates on local gas prices.

Mark Rutte visits Suriname this week, marking the first time any Dutch Prime Minister has visited Suriname in over a decade.

On Saturday, September 10, 2022, President Santokhi noted that the Prime Minister's visit is in order. “Within two years, the relationship with the Netherlands has improved rapidly. His presence also shows that the relationship between the two countries has improved, broadened and deepened at all levels. Confidence in Suriname is back," the Surinamese head of state noted.

Attracting investments from the Netherlands is very high on the agenda of President Santokhi. The president will also speak with Prime Minister Mark Rutte on security, education, the economy, and visa policy.

President: Multiple measures to curb the increasing exchange rates and strengthen the Surinamese Dollar

The rate published by the Central Bank of Suriname is SRD 27.37 for the US dollar, and the street price is much higher. The confiscation of money transported to the rate of 19.5 million euros is still pending in the courts in the Netherlands. Since then, commercial banks have had a shortage of cashless funds to meet market needs. The deficit puts enormous pressure on the exchange rate. The head of state says there is a lot of cash in the country, but it cannot be converted into cashless money.

Santokhi: "A lot of importers are now looking for money and have to transfer money by giro, but they cannot do that". In the government council on 7 September, the decision was taken to restart money transport, so that the Centrale Bank van Suriname (CBvS) can again intervene in the foreign exchange market.

The government is renegotiating the currency interventions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The government has introduced a retention scheme, which means that all export companies that bring in foreign currency must make 35% of it available to the banks.

Price of fuel has been updated to reflect the new price worldwide.

The price of diesel remains SRD 19.87 per litre. Gasoline goes up by 12 cents to SRD 24.88 and super unleaded petrol becomes SRD 30.41 per litre. The Ministry of Finance & Planning announces that it has decided not to increase the diesel price, while petrol will be adjusted to cover costs.

For the calculation of the fuel prices as of 9 September, the average US dollar transfer rate for the month of August is used, which is set at SRD 25,275 for 1 US dollar. The price shows an increase, while the world market price of oil has started a downward trend. This is because Suriname citizens have always been paying below market prices for gas subsidized by the government. The government has chosen not to adjust the diesel price to avoid spillover into production and keep transport affordable. The price of unleaded will be increased to cover costs. Despite the fall in the world market price, the diesel price is still heavily subsidized, projected at SRD 165 million for September.