Dutch Caribbean islands phase out guilders, embrace US$

KRALENDIJK, Bonaire — A cluster of Dutch Caribbean islands popular with divers is phasing out its currency to make way for the US dollar.

All Netherlands Antillean guilders in bank accounts across Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba were to be automatically converted by midnight Saturday, Dutch Ministry of Finance official Richard Doornbosch said in a recent statement.

Doornbosch expects the guilder to be out of circulation within a week's time.

The conversion comes nearly three months after the break-up of the Netherlands Antilles -- colonised by the Dutch in the 17th century — as the islands became Dutch municipalities.

The US dollar already serves as the islands' second currency.

Complicating the transition is the introduction of a new tax structure that eliminates import and sales taxes, finance officials said.

Residents also worry about price-gouging, but Evart Piar, president of Maduro & Curiel's Bank, downplayed those concerns.