Iarla Hughes, chief financial officer at Manx Telecom welcomes recognition of the need to invest in the future

Given the challenging past 12 months for many businesses and individuals, it was good to see the ‘Budget of Focus’ also give a little bit of hope for better times ahead.

Treasury Minister Alfred Cannan quite rightly concentrated on economic resilience but there was a clear recognition, too, that the island needs to invest to put itself in a strong strategic position going forwards.

We welcome confirmation of the £1.4m contribution to accelerating the fibre broadband roll out in line with the National Broadband Plan, a programme which is vital to ensuring the Isle of Man can compete with other jurisdictions at a global level.

The substantial sums for health care and climate change adaptation and mitigation are also commitments that all families and businesses with a long-term stake in the island will appreciate, and the decision to maintain taxes at the current level is good news for employees and employers alike.

Mr Cannan referred to a new Strategic Economic Framework that will be commissioned to help drive the island’s economy over the next five to 10 years, identifying ‘opportunities where the Isle of Man can take advantage, or even lead the way’.

This will be an important piece of work, he said, involving ‘proper engagement with a wide range of businesses and individuals’ and we look forward very much to what this initiative will deliver.