8. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the Welsh Government's new borrowing powers? OAQ51753

I thank the Member for that question. The new fiscal framework secures £1 billion-worth of capital borrowing powers, as I've set out before the Finance Committee and in this Chamber. My intention is always to maximise the use of the least expensive forms of capital before proceeding to more complex and expensive kinds of investment.

Thank you. Cabinet Secretary, I'm sure you'll join me in welcoming the new borrowing powers of, as you say, up to £1 billion, under the Wales Act 2017, coming into effect in just a matter of weeks. Now, of course it is vital that these moneys and powers are used to drive the Welsh economy forward, and in north Wales in particular, this means making journey times faster and more reliable, especially in regard to the upgrading of the A55. Can you advise me as to what assurances you plan to give the forthcoming national infrastructure commission in terms of your commitments to using the extra borrowing powers to ensure that access to such finance is taken into account as part of this long-term and much-needed infrastructure planning here in Wales?

I do share the Member's welcome for the borrowing powers that we will have. As I'm sure she would point out to me, borrowed money has to be repaid. Therefore, it's a careful balancing act required in investing today and being confident that we are able to pay back the money that we've borrowed in the future. But I regard that, as I think she was just suggesting, as an investment in the future of our country and its economic success. I've listened many times to her making the case for investment in transport matters in north Wales. I know that she will have welcomed the £250 million that this Government is committed to using to address congestion in the Deeside corridor, and there are other steps that my colleague the Cabinet Secretary for economy and investment is making to make sure that A55 continues to be a highway that drives prosperity right across north Wales. 

Borrowing, as you just said, Cabinet Secretary, always comes with a cost, but we are currently at historically very low interest rates and so now is an incredibly good time to borrow, especially if you can get borrowing at fixed rates from the Public Works Loan Board. Has the Welsh Government considered using borrowing for our hospital renewal programme to cut the cost for health in running some of the buildings they've got?

Well, Llywydd, one of the things that's apparent from the questions we've had this afternoon is the understanding that the borrowing we're able to now draw down is available for a whole range of potential purposes here in Wales. I know that my Cabinet colleagues will be coming to me, all of them, with worthwhile schemes that they will want to take forward to invest in—essential infrastructure and public services and health. The ability to create buildings of the future that run more efficiently will, I'm sure, be on the list of proposals that the Cabinet Secretary for health will want to propose to me.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary.