i should like to emphasize that the credit measure sets a limit only on the growth of credit. hence, in the case of sint maarten, where credit extension has actually been declining since 2011, the credit measure has no effect. the decline in private credit extension in sint maarten clearly indicates certain weaknesses in the economy ’ s macroeconomic environment. these weaknesses may be the result of either a decline in the demand for credit or a reduction in the supply of credit by commercial banks. ladies and gentlemen, so far, the bank ’ s monetary policy has produced the intended results by moderating credit growth, improving the current account deficit on the balance of bis central bankers ’ speeches payments, and stemming the decline in reserves in the monetary union. in 2013, the deficit on the current account of the balance of payments dropped further, primarily because the growth in exports of goods and services exceeded the rise in imports. export growth was driven largely by the tourism and transportation sectors, mitigated by a decline in the reexport activities by the free - zone companies in curacao. imports rose as a result of more merchandise imports to meet tourism demand and the import of construction materials related to investment projects, including the simpson bay causeway. however, a decline in merchandise imports by the free - zone companies in curacao combined with a decline in domestic demand in curacao moderated import growth. also, the lower international oil and food prices contained the increase in the import bill. the deficit on the current account was financed primarily by external financing to the private sector, as reflected by a worsening of the direct investment, portfolio investment, and loans and credit balances. as the inflow of capital during 2013 exceeded the current account deficit, the balance of payments of the monetary union recorded a surplus as reflected by an increase of approximately naf. 77 million in the gross official reserves. we should not consider the improved situation on the balance of payments in 2013 as a reason to lessen our efforts to address the imbalances on the current account. after all, the current account deficit as a percentage of gdp is still too high. in this context, we must realize that the deployment of monetary tools can bring only a short - term solution to a structural problem. the situation on the balance of payments can be structurally improved only if both curacao and sint maarten take the necessary actions. an analysis of the developments on the current account of the balance of payments over the

, the 14. 1 % ( in 2017 ) unemployment rate in curacao is among the highest in the caribbean region and is expected to remain around 13 / 14 % in the coming years. important to mention is that the positive development in 2019 is only possible under the assumption that the expected private investments indeed take place and the investments that are currently ongoing indeed finalize. as i have already shown on the previous slide, we expect a slight economic growth for 2019. however, there are some risks and challenges that could put a drag on our growth prospects for 2019 and beyond. i would like to focus on three of them. first, our exposure to venezuela. second, the developments in the international financial services sector, which is one of the pillars of our economy. and third, our public finances with a special focus on the hospital nobo otrobanda. because of our geographic proximity, venezuela has always been one of our main trading partners. consequently, activities in key economic sectors of our economy were affected by the deep recession and unstable situation in venezuela of the past years. the pie charts on this slide show curacao ’ s exports, imports, and total trade by geographical area. as shown in the first pie chart, venezuela is curacao ’ s second most important export market with a share of 17. 9 % of the total exports of goods and services. it is important to note that the bulk of foreign exchange income from venezuela is generated from the refining activities of the isla refinery. in the second pie chart, it is shown that venezuela ’ s share in curacao ’ s import of goods and services is 16. 5 %, thereby making it the second highest after the united states. curacao imports primarily merchandise from venezuela, of which oil ( 89 % ) is the most important product. a breakdown of total trade, i. e., the sum of export and import of goods and services, as shown in the third pie chart, reveals that venezuela is curacao ’ s second most important trading partner with a share of 17. 2 % of total trade. to assess the effect of trade with venezuela on the real gdp of curacao, we calculated a scenario in which all trade transactions between curacao and venezuela were removed and a scenario in which all transactions with only the isla refinery were removed. as venezuela is one of curacao ’ s main trading partners, a discontinuation of all trade will have a negative effect on real gdp