Mar 16 - GSD Calls On Picardo To Debate Public Finances On GBC
The GSD has said that the Government’s “attempts to deflect criticism about the state of our public finances will do nothing to allay the concerns of the public at the huge increases in public spending by this administration, which Minister Bossano recently blamed on consultants brainwashing Government Ministers, funded by eye watering levels of public debt in the total amount of £800 million.”
The Opposition says Mr Picardo “should stop hiding behind press releases” and debate the issue on public television with the Leader of the Opposition as he promised in December of last year.
The issue is so serious, says the party, that it requires nothing less.
The Opposition argues that not only does £800 million represent a “record level of public debt by a very significant margin,” but it also exceeds the legal borrowing limits. This is because, according to the GSD, Net Government Debt stands at £400 million and, on an economy the size of ours Net Debt cannot, at present, legally exceed £440 million.
With reserves at £52 million, the GSD claims that the Government “does not have enough money” to pay for the £750 million of capital projects it promised at the last election. Even with projected increases in the economy thereby allowing the Government to borrow more directly, says the GSD, it would not be possible for the Government to pay for it all of its manifesto commitments and spending by borrowing directly.
That is the reason, argues the GSD, why the Government caused the Gibraltar Savings Bank to transfer £400 million to Credit Finance Company Limited which, claims the GSD, is being used to fund Government expenditure, including Government owned companies, and projects. For example, the GSD says that it now knows that £347 million has been paid by Credit Finance Company Limited to Gibraltar Investment (Holdings) Limited which is then using it to fund the cash flow requirements of Government owned companies including GJBS.
The Leader of the Opposition, Daniel Feetham, said: “The Government could not have borrowed £800 million directly because our laws would not have allowed it. By using Credit Finance Company Limited, the Government is driving a coach and horses through laws which have been carefully crafted in order to ensure no Government borrows in a manner that becomes unaffordable for this community and future generations.”
