Ladies and gentlemen, preliminary figures reveal that economic developments in the monetary union were mixed during 2013. On the one hand, Sint Maarten recorded an economic expansion of 1.1%, which was a slowdown compared to the growth of 1.5% registered in 2012. On the other hand, the economy of Curaçao shrank by 0.5% in 2013, following a contraction of 0.1% in 2012.
BIS Review 86/2008  1  result, they found themselves far better off financially than they probably would have been otherwise. As this recent experience suggests, financial liberalization and innovation bring many benefits but can also create information and incentive problems that lead to mistakes.