She pointed out that the current minister of Finance and Planning stumbled upon a concerning reality after she had come into office. “No money was put aside to cover the salaries in October, November and December,” said President Simons. The Finance minister also informed the president that a debt of about SRD 7 billion must be paid off. If the government had not revised the national budget for 2025, it would not have been able to pay off a portion of that debt but there is still a budget deficit of 7.5 to 8 percent. Simons acknowledges that this is much too high and that it is a direct result of uncontrolled election expenditures such as the study financing and the social programs that were financed outside the budget.

“The average citizen often does not understand that a budget cannot be corrected with the stroke of a pen. The reality is that we entered a chaotic financial house when we came into office,” said President Simons. Another problem which the president mentioned is the huge amount of liquidity that was pumped into the economy in the months leading up to the elections. This resulted in price hikes and inflation pressure that are currently being felt by the people. “Too much money was money was put in circulation,” said President Simons. “The people feels the pressure of the retail prices on a daily basis.” The head of state explained that the foreign currency exchange problem is also partially a result of the money injections. The Office of the President will soon good talks with the Central Bank of Suriname, cambio owners and entrepreneurs in order to get things under control. Meanwhile the government will focus on intensifying its tax collections. Companies that fill out their tax forms but do not pay their taxes will be placed under a magnifying glass. Then there is also the value added tax issue. Entrepreneurs collect VAT but do not hand it over to the state. “We can no longer afford these leaks,” said President Simons who added that measures have already been taken at the Customs Office in order to increase he efficiency and state income. According to President Simons it is clear that Suriname needs more than cosmetic procedures in order to address the financial problems. “The financial problems are structural and require a long term approach. I never promised that I would change the country in three months. I did promise to work honestly and step by step. We can only achieve change by working together.”