The budget deficit continued to fall in April 2022, with borrowing of £18.6 billion down £5.6 billion on last year and just £0.6 billion below our most recent forecast profile. By contrast the more timely data from cash receipts were particularly strong, up 18.5 per cent on last April and £6.4 billion (10.2 per cent)…

The pandemic caused the deepest recession in the UK in living memory, prompted the largest fiscal policy response outside the World Wars, and has, so far, been followed by an unusually rapid economic recovery. The past two years also reshaped welfare spending and can be expected to continue to do so. So this year’s Welfare…

Our latest Welfare trends report (WTR) will be published at 11am on Tuesday 24 May. Our biennial WTR examines the drivers of welfare spending. This year’s report will focus on changes in non-pensioner welfare spending during and after recessions, comparing the pandemic to the previous three UK recessions in the past half-century.

The initial full-year estimate of government borrowing in 2021-22 is £151.8 billion, less than half the 2020-21 figure but £24.0 billion above our March forecast (and £16.7 billion above it on a like-for-like basis). This surprise relative to forecast is largely due to higher-than-expected central government spending, which outweighed stronger-than-expected receipts. The like-for-like surprise could…

The public finances have emerged from the pandemic in better shape than expected. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will push inflation to a 40-year high of almost 9 per cent, and living standards are set for a historic fall over the next 12 months. The Chancellor used his Spring Statement to deliver rebates and tax…

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

Two years since the start of the pandemic, this Economic and fiscal outlook (EFO) is presented against the backdrop of another unfolding global shock. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is foremost a human tragedy and a reminder of the terrible costs of wars and the immense and immeasurable losses for those caught up in them….

March 2022 All but two policy costings presented to the Office for Budget Responsibility at Spring Statement 2022 were scrutinised and were certified as reasonable, central estimates were included in our forecasts. The Government’s Spring Statement 2022 policy costings document briefly describes the methodologies underpinning these costings. In our March 2022 Economic and fiscal outlook we have…

We will publish our latest Economic and fiscal outlook (EFO) on Wednesday 23 March, once the Chancellor has completed his Spring Statement in Parliament. The EFO will present our latest forecast for the economy and public finances, which will include all policy measures announced since our previous forecast in October (including the February energy package)….

January is a big month for tax receipts, with self-assessment (SA) payments due. This year’s relate to 2020-21 liabilities – a year affected by both lockdowns and huge fiscal support. At £26.8 billion, SA receipts exceeded our forecast by £7.8 billion. That helped take the year to date receipts surplus relative to our October 2021…

Since the publication of our October 2021 Economic and fiscal outlook (EFO) we have received a request for further information on the super-deduction costing. We have published this new supplementary forecast information below and on the October 2021 EFO page.

Since the publication of our October 2021 Economic and fiscal outlook (EFO) we have received a request for a further breakdown of the Health and social care levy costing. We have published this new supplementary forecast information below and on the October 2021 EFO page.

Government borrowing in December 2021 was £16.8 billion, down £7.6 billion on December 2020. Year to date borrowing of £146.8 billion is down 46.8 per cent on the same period last year and is £13.0 billion below our October forecast profile. That undershoot reflects stronger than expected receipts (thanks largely to a more resilient labour…

Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves MP and OBR Chair Richard Hughes have exchanged letters on the potential fiscal implications of higher paths for real GDP growth. We have published these letters below.

Since the publication of our October 2021 Economic and fiscal outlook (EFO) we have received a request for further detail on the impact of policy changes on the number of taxpayers by band. We have published this new supplementary forecast information below and on the October 2021 EFO page.