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| Budget latest: Britain's deficit won't be cleared until 2031 under Tory plans, says OBR | Budget latest: Britain's deficit won't be cleared until 2031 under Tory plans, says OBR |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Budget deficit will not be wiped out on 2031, the Treasury watchdog has suggested – a staggering 16 years later than George Osborne originally pledged. | The Budget deficit will not be wiped out on 2031, the Treasury watchdog has suggested – a staggering 16 years later than George Osborne originally pledged. |
| The Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) rejected Philip Hammond’s claim that he was still on course to balance the books by about 2025 as increasingly “unlikely”. | |
| Instead, it suggested the most likely year was now 2030-31 – warning it could be even later, as Britain’s ageing population piles more pressure on the NHS. | |
| The cause was an economy “weaker” than the OBR forecast just nine months ago, with growth shrinking and borrowing set to rise as a result. | |
| The verdict is a big blow to the Chancellor, who had rebuffed pre-Budget pressure to publicly accept that the 2025 date to eliminate the deficit was doomed. | |
| In his speech, Mr Hammond did not mention the target forecast, set out in the Conservative election manifesto – but, speaking later, his aides insisted it remained in place. | |
| But, said OBR chairman Robert Chote, the books “would not reach balance until 2030-31”, if the deficit fell at the rate expected. | |
| “And, over this period, there is also likely to be upward pressure on spending from the ageing of the population and other cost pressures on the health service,” he warned. | |
| Furthermore, the forecast ignores Brexit, because - with no clarity on Britain’s exit terms – it is impossible to calculate the impact of EU withdrawal. | |
| More follows… | More follows… |