This week the Fiscal Policy Panel – a group of independent economists – published their annual report in which they downgraded their forecasts of economic growth in Jersey to just 0.4 per cent this year and to zero per cent in 2017 and 2018.
Last year the panel predicted economic growth of 1.8 per cent in 2016 and 1.5 per cent for 2017.
The report says that the key reason for the downgrade is the UK’s vote to leave the EU, and warns that if its predictions are accurate, further budget cuts may be needed to balance the States’ finances after 2019, however the FPP recommended that no adjustments to current States financial planning in the Medium-Term Financial Plan such as tax increases or further cuts, should be carried out before 2019 and, if necessary, reserves should be used if there is a budget shortfall.
