That increase means that the total value of deposits reached a new record high of GBP129.5bn at the end of March 2008 – an increase of GBP24.2 (23%) year on year.

Peter Niven, Chief Executive of GuernseyFinance, explained:

“These results are very positive. They reflect not just the fact that Guernsey remains an attractive location for placing deposits but that there continues to be strong growth across the financial services industry and most notably in the funds sector where the figures released just last week showed year on year increases of some 45%.”

The latest report from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) shows that the rise in deposits was primarily due to an increase in the underlying business, although sterling weakening against the euro had some effect.

This volume growth was split between a further increase in Swiss fiduciary deposits and a solid increase in other deposits.

These were mainly increases in corporate deposits across a range of banks, and to a lesser extent inter-bank deposits, largely reflecting business growth in the funds sector.

There were no new banking licences issued during the first quarter and none were surrendered, meaning that there are still 47 licensed banks in Guernsey.