Alex Allinson will today (Tuesday) deliver his first Budget as Treasury Minister against the continuing cost of living crisis.

During these tough economic times, Dr Allinson’s inaugural Budget is unlikely to be a give-away one.

Public finances were put under unprecedented pressure during the Covid pandemic.

Then as energy prices soared last year, millions of pounds of government funding were poured into providing targeted cost of living support and a cap on electricity tariffs over this winter.

Energy prices are unlikely to fall back to levels seen before the war in Ukraine and indeed Manx Utilities has already warned tariffs will rise substantially in the spring when the 22p a unit cap is lifted.

Gas prices are being reduced by 16% in March although they will still be 80% higher than they were before 2021.

Government is pinning its hopes on growing the economy to balance the books in future years without the use of reserves.

It hopes to expand the population to 100,000 by the year 2037 to provide the additional tax income needed to fund services.

We can expect in the Budget measures to support its five-year strategic plan to create 5,000 new jobs, generate an extra £200m a year of income by 2032 and develop the infrastructure and services required to cater for that expanded population.

Government has also pledged to fully decarbonise the island’s electricity supply using solar and wind power by 2030.

The economy is facing other challenges too including an ongoing skills shortage.

Manx Utilities said it had been exposed to a £50m loss in the current year while protecting customers from the full extent of the high prices.

A spokesman said: ’Any reserves are now depleted and we are still experiencing energy supply costs of over £40m per year higher than prior to 2021. During this period Manx Utilities increased its unit rate by 30%.

‘Wholesale gas prices have reduced recently. However, they still remain high with these prices expected to continue through 2023 and 2024.

‘As such, we regrettably have no alternative but to review electricity tariffs to protect the business and ultimately the essential services we must provide for our island.

She said the UK energy price guarantee scheme caps domestic unit rates at 34p per kWh and this is expected to rise to 40p in April.

This compares to Manx Utilities’ current standard unit rate of 23p per kWh.

Over the same period Isle of Man Energy has increased its unit rates by over 190%.

The Manx Utilities spokesman added: ‘While we consider our tariffs after an increase for 2023 has been applied are likely to remain competitive with other utility prices, we are also very conscious the increased financial burden they will place on our customers.’