Difficult decisions in forthcoming budget, treasury minister says

Treasury Minister Alex Allinson said it would be a "hard budget"

Politicians will be faced with some "difficult decisions" in Tynwald when the budget is debated, the treasury minister has said.

Alex Allinson is due to deliver the financial plan for the Isle of Man for the year ahead on Tuesday.

He said continued investment in public services was key but it was important to be "honest with the Manx public that that will come at a cost".

The next budget follows £46.8m in departmental overspending this year.

But that was coupled with a lower than expected drawdown from reserves to cover overall government expenditure.

'Hard times'

Dr Allinson said while the government's ongoing medium-term financial plan would reduce the reliance on reserves, it was "absolutely right" that the funds were used in the short term.

He said as the island was coming out of a "very big inflationary period", things were looking "slightly rosier", but there were "still lots of challenges there".

The budget outlined on Tuesday would be "a hard budget during hard times", and "a lot of people are going to be disappointed" by it, he added.

There were still a lot of financial challenges ahead, Alex Allinson says

Dr Allinson said: "One of the key points of this budget is to look forward to putting public services key, to invest in public services, to invest in our economy, but also be honest with the Manx public that that will come at a cost."

"And so we've had to balance that increased spending in key services with how government will raise that revenue.

"I will be coming to Tynwald with some difficult decisions for them to make to secure the long-term sustainability of our finances and actually mean we can invest in the infrastructure of our country."

The Isle of Man Budget 2024-25 will be delivered by Dr Allison and debated by Tynwald members from 10:00 GMT on Tuesday.

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