Teare yesterday forecast that its GDP will rise between 3% and 4% this year, following 29 years of successive unbroken growth, and he also highlighted how the Isle of Man had been quoted as the eighth wealthiest nation in the world in terms of per capita GDP.
“These are marks of success that we can feel proud of as a nation, but they may not ring true with the average person. Those in work have seen an average 8.5% fall in their incomes in real terms over the last five years,” he said.
The Isle of Man became the largest Crown Dependency economy in 2012, but this was only confirmed when the Isle of Man 2011/12 national income stats were published in October last year, according to figures provided by the Isle of Man Government.
In 2011/12, the 29th year of growth for the Isle of Man, its GDP increased 7.9% to £3.8bn, in comparison with Jersey’s £3.6bn and Guernsey’s £2bn over the same period.
But within the banking and fiduciary sectors, while job losses of over 200 were projected for the year the current data indicated the actual levels will be closer to 100 in 2013-14, with similar losses in 2014-15, Teare said.
“We have been working particularly hard with the banking sector, the Channel Islands and the UK Treasury in order to protect our interests as the UK moves ahead with its new banking regime: effectively to split retail and investment banking in line with the recommendations of the Independent Commission on Banking.”
Teare also said the Government’s revenue budget would balance in 2015-16, with around £3m less of its reserve fund used than originally envisaged.
Click here to read about the reduced role for financial services envisioned by the Isle of Man in its Vision 2020 strategy document.
