The Treasury Minister has told a big gathering at the Junior Chamber of Commerce breakfast briefing that work on the new Town and Village Development Fund will get underway very quickly.

" We want to get this moving as soon as possible, " Allan Bell told the 170 strong audience in the Hilton Hotel this morning ( Wednesday 20th February) and he added " we will get contractors in from outside to speed this thing up".

In a lengthy briefing to an attentive audience, Mr Bell spelled out future dangers. The possible election of Barak Obama, a man who has already signed up to anti tax haven legislation.The visit of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in September which, due to the climate, globally, of toughened regulation, was likely to be more rigorous than ever.
The "days counting rule" to which, he hinted, there could be a solution on the horizon but, he warned,"that might come at a price".

To renewed demands that a plank of the Year 2000 Tax Strategy, namely dropping the highest level of income tax from 18p to 15p, be brought in speedily, he said that would not happen at least during the five year bedding in period for the new revenue sharing arrangement. And as regards that arrangement, he stressed that a dip in the UK economy, reducing the collective VAT pool from which the Island would now draw its national income, could bring the Manx income down with it. In view of that possibility, departments should bear that in mind when they made demands of the Manx exchequer, he added.

More on Mr Bell's post budget musings in Mandate business tomorrow morning ( Thursday February 21st).