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LOCAL Friday 5 May 2023
Summary of the Monthly Bulletin of February 2023

Net foreign assets increased

Monetary developments million) and consumer credit (+Afl. 5.8 million). and income tax (+Afl. 3.7 million).
In February 2023, money supply expanded by In contrast, loans to enterprises (-Afl. 3.5 million)
Afl. 22.8 million to Afl. 5,627.8 million, compared decreased. Non-credit-related balance sheet Tourism
to January 2023, resulting from an increase in items amounted to zero. The number of stay-over visitors amounted to
net foreign assets (+Afl. 25.2 million) and a de- 98,068 in February 2023, which is 20,107 visitors
crease in net domestic assets (-Afl. 2.5 million). Inflation (+25.8 percent) more than in February 2022.
The consumer price index (CPI) for February The North American market, the Latin American
In February 2023, the expansion in net foreign 2023 noted a 7.1 percent rise year-over-year market, and the European market increased
assets of the banking sector was due to net (YOY). The main contributors to this increase by 16,057 visitors (+24.4 percent), 3,257 visitors
purchases of foreign exchange of Afl. 320.5 mil- were the “Housing,” “Transport”, and “Food (+73.3 percent), and 222 visitors (+3.5 percent),
lion from the public, mostly related to foreign and Non-alcoholic Beverages” components. respectively.
exchange revenue from tourism exports. These The 12-month average inflation rate was 6.1
were largely offset by net sales of foreign ex- percent in February 2023, compared to 5.8 per- For further information or a more detailed anal-
change of Afl. 295.2 million to the public, mainly cent in January 2023. ysis, visit our website (www.cbaruba.org) or
associated with payments for goods imports. contact the Statistics Department of the Cen-
Government trale Bank van Aruba, tel. +297-525-2100, e-mail
The development in the domestic component Total government revenue amounted to Afl. statistics.department@cbaruba.org.
of the money supply was caused by a de- 103.6 million in February 2023, Afl. 21.5 million
crease in domestic credit (-Afl. 2.5 million). The more than the same month of the previous
decline in domestic credit resulted from lower year. The expansion in government revenue
net claims of the banking sector on the pub- resulted from an increase in tax revenue (+Afl.
lic sector (-Afl. 13.9 million) and higher claims of 25.6 million) and a decrease in nontax revenue
the banking sector on the private sector (+Afl. (-Afl. 4.2 million).
11.4 million). The contraction in net claims of
the banking sector on the public sector was The growth in tax revenue was mainly driven
the result of an increase in government depos- by the expansion in income from turnover tax
its (+Afl. 14.0 million). The increase in claims of (B.B.O./B.A.V.P.) (+Afl. 10.6 million), hotel room
the banking sector on the private sector was tax (+Afl. 6.5 million), import duties (+Afl. 5.3 mil-
caused by higher housing mortgages (+Afl. 9.1 lion), foreign exchange tax (+Afl. 4.4 million),

The Aruba Driving School Association calls for regulations concerning

electric kick scooters and trike motorcycles

Recently, Aruba is see- Netherlands is an example ers going at a maximum of
ing an increase in elec- of a country that has suc- 30 kph are not permitted
tronic vehicles like the kick cessfully implemented this. to drive on these roads.
scooters found in the hotels Other requirements for the
areas and trike motorcy- According to Hart, The electronic scooter include
cles. At this moment, there Netherlands has built spe- the driver being 16 or over
are no types of regulations cial bike lanes, where these and knows traffic laws, a
in terms of traffic laws ad- types of scooters are al- special permit that shows
dressing the use of these lowed to drive on up to a that the driver has taken a
vehicles, according to the certain speed. In Aruba, test and passed, the driver
Aruba Driving School Asso- we have certain areas must wear protective gear
ciation (VRA). with the laws surrounding It can also be observed, called “bebouwde kom” and the vehicle must have
license categories: “mean- especially around the hotel in Dutch, where drivers are a plate number.
Because of this, Tomas Ruiz, ing that if the motorcycle area in Noord, that there is only permitted to drive a
secretary of VRA and Wil- weighs 450 to 500 kilos (992 an increase of electronic maximum of 50 kilometers If these regulations are not
fred Hart, retired chief of to 1002 pounds), you can- kick scooters being used, (30 miles) per hour. Outside put in place, Hart pointed
traffic police, expressed not obtain a license for it, primarily by tourists. The of these areas, like the main out that this could create
that these types of vehicles because this limit is not in- association has also com- road that stretches in the a big problem for locals
must include special licens- cluded in the license cat- mented on these vehicles, southern part of the island, and tourists that buy or rent
es. According to them, egory for motorcycles. Nor saying that tourists need an and the double lane high- these types of vehicles:
there are a few types of ve- does it fall in the license insurance to ride them in ways, the maximum speed “but the government is do-
hicles with which there are category for cars or trucks, case of an accident. is 80 kilometers (50 miles) ing nothing about it,” Hart
no special licenses need- but these are still rented out per hour, with a minimum finalized.
ed, because these are cur- to tourists.” In the past, kick scooters of 50. Electronic kick scoot-
rently not properly defined were usually used by chil-
within the traffic laws of In these past few days, VRA dren, but thanks to tech-
Aruba has announced through nological advancements,
the media certain points adults are also seen enjoy-
For example, the definition that there are discussing in ing these electronic kick
of a (trike) motorcycle in order to modify the current scooters. These allow you
the eyes of the law states law surrounding these ve- to drive longer distance at
that motorcycles up to 600 hicles. There are calling on a speed of 30 kilometers (18
kilograms (approx. 1322 authorities to take this mat- miles) per hour, but at the
pounds) are permitted to ter seriously: “What does it same time that they started
be used on the road, but take to implement a regu- manufacturing these types
this law does correlate lation? When an accident of scooters, new regulations
happens?” had to be put in place. The