It has appointed a new Fiscal Policy Panel, some seven years after the last Assembly abandoned a similar group of advisers to much consternation.

Initially the panel will look at P&R’s Funding and Investment Plan, which has just been delayed, that is expected to include another attempt to introduce GST to help shore up the island’s finances in the long-term.

That plan also includes how a new list of major building projects P&R wants to press ahead with this term will be funded.

“The Policy & Resources Committee recognises the importance of giving States Members and the community as much confidence as possible in its forecasting, and that the right fiscal challenges have been identified. It also wants to ensure its proposed solutions are viable and sustainable,” a spokesperson said.

The panel will be chaired by Dr Matthew Agarwala, Prof. Francis Breedon and Dr Andy Sloan.

“It is a pleasure to serve on such a distinguished panel,” said Dr Agarwala.

“We will provide an independent assessment of the States’ projections of its financial position going forward, focusing on the economic and fiscal realities, and commenting on the reasonableness of the proposed solutions.

“The fiscal policies and investment decisions taken today will shape Guernsey’s future. It is imperative that decision-makers and the public are confident that those choices are informed using the best available information.”

Dr Agarwala is an economist with the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at Cambridge and the Tobin Center for Economic Policy at Yale. 

Prof. Breedon is Professor of Economics and Finance at Queen Mary University of London, with previous experience at the Bank of England and in senior economic roles in the private sector. He is also a member of the Scottish Fiscal Commission and of Jersey’s Fiscal Policy Panel.

Dr Andy Sloan, a former States economist and deputy chief executive of Guernsey Finance, also worked previously as the Director of Financial Stability and as International Policy Advisor for the GFSC.

He is the founder of the International Sustainability Institute.