Senator John Le Fondré said tough decisions had to be made as Jersey faced ‘significant financial pressures’ that were ‘unprecedented over the last 70 years’.
Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of pounds have been set aside as part of the government’s coronavirus recovery plan.
And further government financial support into the winter is being proposed for businesses hardest hit by the pandemic.
During a Scrutiny hearing this week Senator Le Fondré confirmed that the government was looking to extend the payroll co-funding scheme – which provides financial support to cover staff wages during the crisis – beyond the current 31 August deadline.
He said this would be done to support businesses such as hotels and hospitality firms which have been hardest hit by the crisis.
However, during yesterday’s States sitting, the Chief Minister said that ‘nothing was off the table’ as the government analysed how it could rebalance the books in the wake of the coronavirus spending.
It was previously revealed that ministers have been tasked with finding significant savings in departmental budgets to help deal with the financial impact of the Covid-19 response – with one minister saying they had been asked to see if there was scope for 20% cuts.
Facing sustained questioning from Deputy Geoff Southern in the States yesterday, Senator Le Fondré said: ‘We are very much at the early stages of considering the government’s recovery plan.
‘This would have to be a comprehensive directive to cover all the things we need to deliver, including, but not limited to, economic recovery.
‘We know there are significant financial pressures on public finances, particularly in light of the measures we previously put in place to help individuals as well as businesses but also as a consequence of the likely direct financial consequences of the crisis itself, and therefore everything remains on the table at this stage.’
He added that he did not want to see cuts to frontline services but when asked for guarantees that he would not make such savings, Senator Le Fondré said he could offer ‘no guarantees’.
‘There are a variety of measures we have to understand to get those books balanced,’ he said. ‘I would hope we are all in the position where we want to make sure we continue to deliver those services and protect frontline jobs. What I cannot give is a guarantee at this stage because we simply do not know.
‘We will know over the next few months what the picture looks like.’
In May, Treasury Minister Susie Pinel signed a ministerial decision which would allow Jersey’s government to borrow up to £500 million to support its coronavirus response.
During States question time, Senator Le Fondré added: ‘We have to be honest. In these very challenging times, one should not give false promises.
‘We should be doing everything we can to protect frontline services but equally there will be examples where services have been delivered differently as a result of Covid-19 and that might mean the service continues to be delivered in a different fashion going forward.
‘We have to got to make sure everything remains on the table because of the magnitude of the problems we face.’
