On the eve of the Budget debate, the business leaders say they want politicians to report on the three branches of States investment as a performance portfolio to measure whether the Island is getting value for money from holdings.
Tomorrow, the States will begin debating the final Budget under a Finance and Economics Committee, before the Island moves to ministerial government next month.
Chamber say the Island’s first Treasury and Resources Minister should consider a new approach to States assets.
In an article on the Chamber website entitled ‘Time to take out the family silver?’, vice-president Clive Spears argues that releasing some of the millions in tied-up capital need not necessarily fuel inflation.
He writes: ‘No one doubts that the move to incorporation of States businesses is meaningful and that it starts to address the issue of accountability and efficiency.
It does not, however, resolve the issue of potentially capital-hungry businesses being owned by the States when they are short of capital, or the redeployment of capital to greater priorities.’
