Category Archive: Economic and fiscal outlook

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has commissioned the OBR to prepare our next forecast for the economy and public finances for publication on Wednesday 27 October. Read the Chancellor’s letter to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee.

Richard Hughes distils the key messages from our latest Economic and fiscal outlook in his press conference presentation and accompanying speaking note.

More than a year on from its start, the coronavirus pandemic continues to exact a heavy toll in lives and livelihoods. Around the globe, more than 100 million people have had the virus and around 2½ million have died from it, and world GDP fell by 3½ per cent in 2020 as governments imposed public…

The economy is set to rebound thanks to rapid vaccine rollout, getting back to its pre-pandemic peak by the middle of next year. Extending rescue measures takes support for households, businesses, and public services to £344 billion. Generous tax incentives for business investment stoke the recovery over the next two years. Then medium-term tax rises…

March 2021 All policy costings presented to the Office for Budget Responsibility at Budget 2018 were scrutinised and were certified as reasonable, central estimates were included in our forecasts. The Government’s Budget 2021 policy costings document briefly describes the methodologies underpinning these costings. In our March 2021 Economic and fiscal outlook we have published an…

On 22 December alongside the monthly public sector finances commentary, we will publish an update of our monthly profiles consistent with our November 2020 forecast to provide a reference point against which to monitor incoming data. The monthly profiles will be published on the coronavirus analysis page.

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,…

1.1 The coronavirus pandemic has delivered the largest peacetime shock to the global economy on record. It has required the imposition of severe restrictions on economic and social life; driven unprecedented falls in national income; fuelled rises in public deficits and debt surpassed only in wartime; and created considerable uncertainty about the future. The UK…

We will publish our latest set of forecasts and scenarios for the economy and public finances alongside the Chancellor’s Spending Review on Wednesday 25 November. Our most recent estimate of public sector net borrowing for 2020-21 is £372.2 billion. This estimate was published in August and combines our Fiscal sustainability report central scenario and the…