"It is the duty of the Office to examine and report on the sustainability of the public finances"
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced that Bronwyn Curtis OBE has been re-appointed as a non-executive member of the OBR and Audit sub-Committee chair. Bronwyn Curtis said: “I am delighted to be re-appointed to the Oversight Board of the Office for Budget Responsibility. As we emerge from the pandemic, the role of the OBR…
The latest public finances data, for February 2021, were published by the ONS and HM Treasury today at 7am. Our regular monthly commentary on the release will be published here this afternoon. This month’s shorter than usual commentary will only cover the most notable movements.
We will publish our latest set of forecasts for the economy and public finances alongside the Chancellor’s Budget on Wednesday 3 March. The Economic and fiscal outlook will be published here immediately after the Chancellor’s speech.
Government borrowing continued to rise in January, with monthly borrowing of £8.8 billion, despite a better-than-expected £24 billion of tax payments being made through self-assessment. Year-to-date borrowing has reached £271 billion, far exceeding the pre-virus annual record set at the height of the financial crisis in 2009-10 (£158 billion). We will publish our latest estimate…
The pace of government borrowing picked up further in December to reach £34.1 billion, the highest monthly total since May. Year-to-date borrowing now stands at £270.8 billion, far exceeding the pre-virus annual record set at the peak of the financial crisis (£158 billion). The reimposition of a national lockdown in early January means prospects for the…
Our annual Forecast evaluation report (FER), examines how our forecasts compare to subsequent outturn data and identifies lessons for future forecasts. This time we have streamlined the FER to focus on how our March 2018 and March 2019 economy and fiscal forecasts for 2019-20 fared against the outturns. The report will be published here on…
The Chancellor has announced that the Budget 2021 will take place on Wednesday 3 March. Our latest outlook for the economy and public finances will be released on the same day.
Coronavirus has caused our economy to shrink 11 per cent this year – the largest drop in over 300 years. But the economy recovers its pre-virus level by the end of 2022. Support for public services, households and businesses costs £280 billion this year, pushing the deficit to £394 billion (19 per cent of GDP,…
Halfway through the 2020-21 fiscal year, cumulative borrowing has reached £208 billion, £51 billion above full-year borrowing in 2009-10 (at the peak of the financial crisis). Year-to-date borrowing is still lower than assumed in the central scenario from our Fiscal sustainability report, as both GDP and tax receipts have fared better than assumed. But with a…
Richard Hughes gives evidence to the Treasury Select Committee (TSC) for the first time as Chair of the OBR alongside Budget Responsibility Committee (BRC) members Andy King and Prof. Sir Charlie Bean. The TSC raised an inquiry ‘Tax after Coronavirus’ to examine what the major pressures on the tax system are after the economic fallout…