GUERNSEY’S chief minister was in upbeat mood yesterday as he spoke to members of the Institute of Directors. While members were expecting a sort of half-term report, he chose instead to deliver more of a ‘state of the nation’ assessment.

And the view from Frossard House is pretty rosy. There is a lot of work going on unseen to streamline the work of government and make it more efficient – ‘real work, real progress,’ he said – and a number of achievements such as the domestic abuse strategy and transforming the company registry into a world class operation.

Perhaps more importantly, it is clear that the underlying strength of the economy is surprisingly robust.

Growth in 2006-07 was better than expected and the latest figures for 2008 indicate that the figure was 6% in real terms and this was led by double-digit growth in the financial services sector.

The chief minister was coy about what that means for this year and last, because the formal release of that data is not scheduled until next week, but the indications are that Guernsey has very much escaped the ravages of the global recession.

Why does this matter to ‘ordinary’ islanders? Well, for two reasons. GDP measures a territory’s economic output and is inextricably linked with its standard of living. The higher the GDP, the better off the community.

What will be particularly revealing when the next figures are released is how much better or worse the island has fared compared with its neighbours and competitors, for that will be an indication of how resilient Guernsey plc is in an economic crisis.

Again, the indications are that we have performed better than Jersey and elsewhere.

In part, that is because there is more business diversity here and the chief minister also said that the early adoption of zero-10 had played its part, too.

With the recovery well under way, it is clear that Guernsey has weathered the storm exceptionally well and is in good shape for the future, whatever that might bring.

Which is a welcome message indeed.