Infrastructure Seen As New Economic Cure All
February 26th, 2009
The Govt in setting up an infrastructure unit under Treasury’s umbrella has put a Treasury Deputy Secretary Mike James in as interim head, and is planning to establish an Infrastructure Advisory Board whose members will be chosen for their financial, engineering and project management skills. Some authorities believe the new unit should act as a circuit-breaker and formulate a programme of infrastructure development which will pull the country out of recession and at the same time yield clear economic benefits. Given financial constraints, the priority for the infrastructure unit may be to deliver innovative ideas on how to fund major projects. The risk the Govt must avoid is turning “infrastructure” into the kind of catchword like “bridging the gaps” or “sustainability” which the previous Govt used to disguise the absence of policy substance, and were treated with contempt.
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Duncan Cotterill