Bermuda’s Standard & Poor’s downgrade “should come as no surprise” to Finance Minister Bob Richards, Shadow Finance Minister David Burt said this afternoon.

In a press release, he stated: “Over the last 30 months he has been warned by the Progressive Labour Party and by ratings agencies that failure to diversify our economy would impact future ratings.”

He said the downgrade represents “ ... a further sign that 30 months of austerity, 30 months of failing to diversify, and 30 months without a credible growth plan lead to what we have seen under the One Bermuda Alliance; a record number of Bermudians out of work, continued rising costs for Bermudian families and seniors, the lowest tourist air arrivals in 48 years, and an increasing exodus of Bermudians leaving Bermuda in order to survive.”

He said: “This cycle cannot continue, we must put an end to this six year recession and modernise our economy so that it can provide the jobs required to sustain Bermudians.”

Mr Burt then put forward what he has described as the Progressive Labour Party’s ten year plan, which he called ‘Vision 2025’ which he said would “put Bermudians back to work, expand opportunity, diversify our economy and reduce our debt.”

Among the elements included in the plan were the formation of an Economic Diversification Unit to identify new economic opportunities for Bermuda to create jobs, removing the incentives that make employing foreign labour less expensive than employing Bermudians and tripling the funds spent on training and retraining to upgrade the skills of Bermudians so they can fill jobs currently filled by guest workers.

He also proposed investing in tourism marketing, reforming the Island’s tax structure to increase the take-home pay of low wage earners, investing in green energy and reducing the bureaucratic red tape for Bermudian entrepreneurs.

Other suggestions included:

• the creation of a Bermuda Fund to invest in companies that bring new jobs to Bermuda

• increasing competition for local banks and insurance companies to reduce costs for Bermudian families

• developing our blue economy to capitalise on the resources in our exclusive economic zone and create jobs in Bermuda

• establishing an online gaming industry to bring hundreds of high tech jobs and additional revenue to Bermuda

• regulating and taxing cannabis to reduce law enforcement costs, generate additional revenue and stimulate tourism demand, and

• implementing pay-go rules to ensure any unbudgeted spending is offset by savings or additional revenue.

Mr Burt concluded: “Thirty months of austerity, lack of transparency, inaction on diversification and lack of planning have moved the Bermuda economy in the wrong direction.

“We cannot build an economy for the future with ideas from the last century; Bermuda needs new and innovative ideas to create jobs and build a secure economic future for Bermudians.”