Lack of Economic Opportunities

Mr Bossano once again emphasized the need for better management of Gibraltar’s economy. He argued that it was the responsibility of the Government to create the opportunities needed to allow for change and to maximise the return of our assets by doing more than just ‘housekeeping and balancing the books’ for the MOD.

Mr Bossano was focusing on the need to move away from Gibraltar’s economic dependence on the UK. The situation existed whereby the economic well-being of the Gibraltar Dockyard, and by extension the Gibraltar economy as a whole, was primarily dictated by the UK Government.

“It would appear to me, of course, that we seem to have in any respects, Mr Speaker, the worst of both worlds because when things are getting difficult in the United Kingdom economically we tend to suffer from it and when they get better there is no guarantee that it will be all that much easier to get the United Kingdom to issue funds to assist Gibraltar in its own development.”