OVERVIEW
The Treasury Minister, Richard Corkill, presented his fourth Budget Speech to Tynwald this morning. "The Isle of Man is doing well" was his upbeat introduction and he went on to substantiate this statement by providing detail on the buoyant state of Government revenues. Gross receipts are anticipated at £335m in the current year, a massive £49m, or 17%, increase on last year.
Whilst clearly delighted with these numbers, he indicated he was fortunate to be Treasury Minister at a time when the Island's economy was so healthy. He introduced a note of caution in that "nothing stands still" and that change must be embraced. Interestingly, whilst referring to the usual external factors - the UK, the EU and the OECD - he firmly pledged that the Island will not compromise on two areas, firstly the Island's autonomy, and secondly its economic interest. The Treasury would not cause the Island to adopt change to its tax system which put it out of line with comparable
