CashNews.co
Mr Hemans said despite some buoyant sectors in other parts of the economy, such as hospitality and admin, the size of the finance sector which makes up 40% of the island’s economy, meant the States needed to prioritise supporting it.
He said: “To close this gap [to Jersey]Guernsey must focus on pro-growth policies, similar to those of the new UK Labour government. “
The States’ admission of a possible £24m deficit meant it was important for the island to live within its means, Mr Hemans said.
He said: “We need to make sure our public finances are sustainable. We need to make sure that our income is matching our expenditure.”
He said the States had four options to tackle the deficit: raising taxes, spending less, borrowing or growing the economy and “clearly the preferred measure has to be growth”.
“We need to invest in the finance sector, that is our golden goose”, he said.