Guernsey finances 'better than expected' despite Covid-19

There are still plans to increase taxes to curb a long-term shortfall in public finances

An assessment into Guernsey's public finances revealed the island performed "better than expected" last year despite the impact of Covid-19.

It outlined the government received more from income tax and property sales, and some committees underspending their budgets in 2021.

It means the States was £46m better off than it expected.

However, it has made no change to plans to increase tax revenue to alleviate an annual shortfall in public finances.

A spokesperson for the Policy and Resources Committee said residents should not to be "lulled into a false sense of security" as the island is still in a deficit.

Deputy Mark Helyar, the committee's treasury lead, said: "In terms of the bailiwick's continued response to Covid-19 and what that's meant for our economic performance, for jobs and businesses and for public finances, 2021 has been much better than expected and that's a credit to this community.

"But we should not expect this very exceptional time to continue and become the norm and we need to be really careful not to be lulled into a false sense of security."

Deputy Peter Ferbrache, committee president, said: "Financially, we have recovered from the impacts of the pandemic much faster than expected, but we cannot realistically expect that rapid pace to continue indefinitely.

"That said, further growth in our economy long-term is absolutely something we need to see and we're relying on it to avoid our annual shortfall being even worse than the £85m currently forecast.

"So yes, we've seen a good financial performance, but no, our problems do not suddenly go away. We must not lose sight of that longer-term challenge and the need to find sustainable solutions for the sake of future generations of islanders."

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