9 TREASURY MANAGEMENT 2019/20 PDF 289 KB
To consider the
report
Decision:
To accept the report for information.
Minutes:
The
Investment Manager submitted a report in relation to the actual results of the
Council's treasury management during 2019/20, compared with the strategy
established for that financial year. It was noted that
the Council's borrowing activity was within the limits originally set, and
£546,000 of interest had been received on investments, which was higher than
the £406,000 within the budget. It was confirmed that
none of the banks the Council had used for investments had failed to pay.
Attention
was drawn to the detail of the borrowing activities, highlighting the fact that
long term loans had remained consistent but that the greatest difference was to
be seen in the short term loans that had been taken
out. It was noted that it would be usual to ask for
cash flow towards the end of the year, but with the implications of the
Covid-19 pandemic creating uncertainty in terms of how to safely pay out grants
to business, the decision was made to take out shout term loans in order to pay
the grants. It was reported that £15m had already been
repaid, with a further £4m yet to be paid.
It
was reported that in terms of investments, this had been a quiet period, with
the investment options giving fairly low returns. It
was noted that the value of the £10m invested in the property fund in February
2019 had reduced significantly by the end of March 2020, and that this was due
to the damaging impact of Covid-19. It was added that
the value was low, but that there had been a recovery of around 20% in market
values since then. The intention was to continue with the investments for the
medium / long term, and to have regular discussions with Arling
Close to keep an eye on the portfolio. It was highlighted
that the rate for returning empty property into use was 4% and turned over a
revenue income of approximately £400k per year; and it was therefore an
excellent tool to have in a portfolio.
RESOLVED
to accept the information.