Apr 24 - GSD Says Picardo Failed To Address Concerns Over Public Finances During Viewpoint Debate
The Opposition notes what it describes as some of the “extraordinary comments” made last night by the Chief Minister in the GBC Viewpoint debate with the Leader of the Opposition. The GSD says that the Leader of the Opposition has a constitutional obligation to question the Government’s handling of the public finances of Gibraltar and to continue to highlight any concerns. According to the party, last night, once again, the Chief Minister “failed to address any of the legitimate concerns raised not just by the GSD Opposition but many people in Gibraltar.”
A statement from the party issued this afternoon expands on these criticisms:
“In answer to a question asked by a member of the public about how he had cured the public debt problem which he had made such a focus of in his election campaign in 2011, which he then subsequently tried to justify in his address as Chief Minister to the people of Gibraltar on GBC about the ruinous state of public finances, Mr Picardo’s response during the debate last night was that he had created his economic ‘miracle’ by simply waiting three months for the end of the financial year, at which point his Government ‘received a new cheque book!’ What an extraordinary statement for a Chief Minister to have made and what an insult to people’s intelligence.
“The public will not be fooled by this. They know full well that if they have a debt, and most people do have some kind of debt, it is not paid off by having the bank send them a new cheque book so that they can carry on spending.
“The Opposition’s view continues to be that the Government is using the Gibraltar Savings Bank (and savers money), channeled through Government owned companies for its own expenditure. This bypasses the public debt limits enshrined in the laws of Gibraltar. Such laws specify how much Government can borrow. The Chief Minister claims that public debt is down but looks extremely uncomfortable explaining the use by the Government of some £400 million of savers' money to fund public expenditure, including £355 million transferred to a Government owned company called Gibraltar Investment (Holdings) Ltd, which is being used to fund the cash flow requirements of all Government owned companies. Given the use and control of these monies by the Government and the liabilities which fall back to the Government through the Gibraltar Savings Bank guarantee, it is reasonable for the huge amounts of savers’ money being moved to and from Credit Finance Company Limited to be the subject of strict external scrutiny to settle the issue once and for all, something which the Chief Minister last night was reluctant to do.
“Once again Mr Picardo has been shown to either not understand finances or to be deliberately misleading the public.”
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