If the enthusiasm for ‘spend to save’ would ever be matched by reality, and if the government had any realistic power to promote growth, we’d hang the rise in tobacco duty and get the cigars out to celebrate the approval for the 2027 Budget.
But the fear is that smoke and mirrors were as prevalent as guernsey jumpers in the Assembly last week, though the Budget should actually represent a most modest braking effort to government spending seen for some years.
It will be remarkable to see what impact the £15m. programme of ‘investment in economic growth initiatives’ for the next three years has. Expect rows about who selects the beneficiaries, digging around to uncover their beneficial ownership, and general unhappiness. Government doesn’t pick winners. Neither, in a small community such as this, does it choose the recipients of largesse investment without rancour.
None of the island’s periods of economic boom have been consciously sparked, or influenced by government. If it were serious about going for growth, that would be culturally embedded, not promoted by half a dozen cheap ideas, many of which won’t outlast this political term, or may not even get off the ground at all.
But the narrative fits with a campaign that promotes sustainability in public finances by hoping and praying for growth to outstrip the rate of increased spending, rather than simply sticking to a determination to spend less.
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