A leading businessman gives the Premier "nought out of ten" for his record on finance.

"In almost every aspect of financial planning and management the administration that he headed failed to achieve an average score and in the majority the rating would be poor," said Peter Everson, the economic chairman of the Chamber of Commerce.

Shortly before taking over as Premier, Dr. Brown pledged: "As your leader, I would be cautiously conservative with the public purse."

He vowed to preserve Bermuda's financial prudence and ratings integrity, working closely with the Finance Minister to make sure the Island is well positioned to meet infrastructure challenges and prepare for a dynamic and prosperous future.

But Progressive Labour Party leadership contender Terry Lister has recently criticised Government for its spiralling debt under Dr. Brown's administration — from $240 million four years ago to more than $1 billion today including the Butterfield Bank guarantee.

The Premier has pointed to the global economic crisis and a succession of social projects as he has defended Government's spending record.

Mr. Everson refers to Government's overspends of $75 million in 2006/7, $88 million in 200⅞, $166 million in 2008/9, and more than $200 million predicted for 2009/10.

"The 2010/11 figures will come out long after he has departed the scene but they will be horrific," he added.

The businessman said there was an additional spending of $464 million on capital projects up to 2008/09, with more to follow from the following two fiscal years, taking total overspending to more than $1 billion.

"In other words, if he had been true to his word and acted in a responsible manner then the public debt would have been $1 billion less than it actually is," said Mr. Everson.

He said the Bermudian workforce has effectively been handed a debt of $35,000 each due to Dr. Brown's overspending. And he said, in addition, programmes like FutureCare will leave future generations of taxpayers with increasing amounts to pay because the benefits were underpriced.