In her foreword to the latest set of financial statements, Treasury Minister Susie Pinel says that investment portfolios owned by the public sector performed well during 2019, with gains of £402 million made.
It is likely, however, a large portion of this figure will have been wiped out by the coronavirus outbreak, with the government admitting that many of their investments have lost value due to the market crash.
Deputy Pinel’s report says: ‘Group net assets grew significantly, from £7.1 billion to £7.6 billion, which includes £3.9 billion of property, plant and equipment and £3.7 billion of investments.
‘We also recorded good growth in net general revenue income, which increased by £50 million against 2018.
‘2019 was also a very positive year for our investment performance, with gains of £402m, compared to £95m of losses in 2018.
‘The Common Investment Fund experienced excellent results, generating a net return of 13.2%. These returns directly reflect a positive year for markets, which included a steep recovery from negative returns of 2.7% seen in 2018, but also outperformance by our active managers, who contributed to the excess return above the benchmark.’
It adds that while government revenue performed well, spending also increased, particularly on welfare and pay rises for public sector workers, many of whom had engaged in industrial action last year.
‘We also achieved a small uplift in our general income in 2019 raising £1.3bn in total. The biggest driver of income growth was tax revenue, at £682m, a 6% increase on 2018,’ it says.
‘Our expenditure in 2019 matched our income at £1.3bn, which was £63m higher than in 2018, largely due to an increase in social benefit payments of £20m and staff costs of £20m reflecting the uplift in benefits and the pay awards agreed in 2019.’
The report says that Revenue Jersey, which collects taxes, recorded income of £682m for the year, including more than £7m through ‘compliance activity’, such as collecting a higher level of unpaid tax debts.
