GSD: “Sir Joe Bossano’s Financial Stability Warning Alarming”
The GSD have said Sir Joe Bossano’s comments were “alarming and yet unsurprising to the GSD given the Government’s excessive spending record”.
A statement from the GSD follows below:
Sir Joe Bossano’s remarks to GBC last night that he considered Gibraltar was no longer financially stable were alarming and yet unsurprising to the GSD given the Government’s excessive spending record.
Roy Clinton the GSD Shadow Minster for Public Finance stated:
“We have for the last eight years been warning the Government that it’s level of spending and borrowing were out of control. Whereas no-one could have foreseen the combined economic effects of Covid-19 and Brexit, it is evident that Gibraltar needed a bigger financial cushion than it currently has and its rainy day funds are insufficient.
The £500 million loan facility guaranteed by the UK is only for three years and thus does not give us much room for error if we are to meet our obligations as a community. Spending needs to be prioritised and targeted. In that respect I note that the Chief Minister in his New Year’s message has already signalled that he will need to abandon some of his manifesto commitments and exceptionally given Sir Joe Bossano additional responsibility for Financial Stability.
I urge Sir Joe to make our public finances fully transparent and publish full audited accounts of all Government owned companies that should be made available free to HM Opposition and make full disclosure of all indirect borrowing commitments and liabilities. In addition the outstanding three years of supplementary appropriations need to be taken in Parliament so that the Principal Auditor can finish his work and table fresh reports, the last of which was for the year 2015/2016. All this would ensure that when we come to consider the Budget for 2021/22 Parliament can be in possession of all the facts in debating the ‘hard decisions’ that he says will have to be made that will ultimately be borne by the taxpayer and people of Gibraltar in working our way out of this public finance crisis.”
