Minister Shigemoto wants Fully Operational Central Bank by January 1, 2012.

Philipsburg:--- Honourable Minister of Finance Hiro Shigemoto wants a fully operational independent Central Bank in Philipsburg by January 1st, 2012.

The Council of Ministers has taken such a decision and would like to see the necessary tools in place so the national financial institution can function at an optimal level and be able to address pertinent operational matters.

Once a Supervisory Board of the Central Bank of Curacao and Sint Maarten (CBCS) is in place, Sint Maarten would like the board to work on this as soon as possible.

"We would gladly appreciate Tromp's co-ordination using all the resources available to implement the necessary measures for this initiative.

"Sint Maarten also wants to be a part of the staff recruitment and development of the expertise locally," Hon. Minister of Finance Hiro Shigemoto stated on Tuesday.

The Minister in his letter to the CBCS President Emsley Tromp dated May 31, 2011, also pointed out that Sint Maarten is doing its utmost to get the Supervisory Board of the CBCS established.

A letter has once again been sent to the Government of Curacao informing them about Sint Maarten's proposed candidate for Chairman of the Board of CBCS.