PESSIMISM from business leaders about the economy needs to be seen in context, the Economic Development Minister has insisted.
Answering questions in the States Assembly yesterday, Deputy Kirsten Morel was challenged about a recent Institure of Directors survey in which 63% of respondents said they were “pessimistic” about Jersey’s economic outlook.
Deputy Inna Gardiner raised the matter and asked the minister what was being done by the government to address the concerns.
While describing the survey as “very useful”, Deputy Morel said context was important, pointing out that a majority of respondents to the survey had expressed optimism about their own businesses. The “self-selecting” survey had only achieved a response rate of 5%, he added.
The minister listed a series of measures taken by the government to boost business confidence, including its Future Economy Programme, £10 million annual investment in business support, work to simplify the planning process, giving certainty about travel links through a new long-term contract for ferry links and investment in projects such as the new Hospital.
“We are driving confidence by continuing to invest in infrastructure after years of neglect,” he said.
These measures had helped the economy to recover from “tumultuous events” in recent years such as Brexit and the Covid pandemic, he added.
Deputy Morel rebuffed a suggestion from Deputy Gardiner that he was dismissing the survey, saying that he held regular meetings with the IoD, and hoped to discuss the outcome of the survey in the coming weeks.
Asked by Deputy Montfort Tadier if his department would carry out its own survey, Deputy Morel said this work was already carried out by Statistics Jersey.
