Britain’s fiscal watchdog is caught up in a political storm
All eyes are on the Office for Budget Responsibility
When KWASI KWARTENG unveiled the biggest package of tax cuts in half a century on September 23rd, something was missing. Ordinarily the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), a fiscal watchdog, accompanies budget announcements with a forecast of the health of the public finances. But its services were rejected by the chancellor, and without the OBR’s conclusions to look at, investors drew their own. Now Mr Kwarteng is scrabbling to make amends. The OBR’s forecasts, along with its assessment of whether the government is meeting new medium-term fiscal commitments, may now be published before the end of the month.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Watched dog”
Britain October 8th 2022
- A chaotic conference fractures Liz Truss’s young premiership
- Britain’s mortgage market is adjusting to higher interest rates
- Britain’s fiscal watchdog is caught up in a political storm
- A £4m scheme to bring Latin into British state schools begins
- British cities have far too little power, and it’s holding them back
- Liz Truss turns to accidental austerity
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