‘I have confidence that spring will come again’ sang Julie Andrews in
the ‘Sound of Music’, and from their latest report, the influential
International Monetary Fund (IMF) seems to be on the same page.
Back in the 1970s it was the IMF that had to bail out Britain with an
emergency loan, but today they are much more optimistic about our
prospects. Their annual report published this week into the UK
economy is the first assessment they have made since the general
election, and makes good reading. It states that our economy is ‘on
the mend’ and that the ‘strong and credible’ deficit reduction plan
announced by George Osborne in the Budget, ‘greatly reduces the risk
of costly loss of confidence in public finances and supports a
balanced recovery’.
There is of course a long way to go to get the country’s finances back
on track, but this report will help boost confidence in the economy.
Difficult decisions are going to have to be made about Government
spending, and all parties acknowledge that there will have to be cuts.
Getting the public finances back into balance, so that the Government
isn’t having to borrow more money every year simply to pay the bills
is only half the story. The long term recovery of the economy needs to
be built on growth in business activity and consumer confidence.
Looking forward to 2011 we have The Open golf championship at Sandwich
which wil bring a great number of visitors to east Kent, as will the
London Olympics the following year. 2011 will also see the second
Folkestone Triennial Arts festival, and on Thursday evening last week
I attended its official launch at The Grand. The first Triennial
brought the attention of the arts world, as well as many visitors to
the town. It also left behind a number of sculptures and art
instillations which have now become familiar landmarks. Tracey Emin’s
‘Baby things’ was recently listed as one of the ten best public works
of art in Britain. The second Triennial which opens on 25th June, will
also bring the works of artists of international standing to
Folkestone, but the Creative Foundation which runs the festival is
also keen to stress the opportunities available for the local creative
community, and businesses. The Triennial can help to create
opportunties for people, particularly those business that can provide
accomdation and catering to the visitors. It will also be a good
opportunity to showcase the talent of our own artists through their
galleries and exhibitions.
One local artist who has been keeping himself particularly busy
recently is Shane Record, who along with Gregg Brown has just
completed a 1000 bike ride and ‘paintathon’ from John O’Groats to
Folkestone. The bike ride helped raise money for the Church Street
Project, a charity that provides therapy for children across the
District. Shane also painted 10 pictures along the way,which were sold
at a special auction last Saturday at The Quarterhouse. You can find
out more about their journey and also donate to the appeal through
Shane’s website www.shanerecord.com