The Chancellor said that the UK was on course for a Budget surplus (£10.4billion by 2019/20), the economy was growing faster than any other major nation’s and that employment was at an all-time high. He said that this situation had been shaped by the fact that the Government had not sought “short-term fixes.”
But he reiterated warnings earlier this year that the outlook for the global economy was perilous and that Britain must be aware of the gathering storm clouds.
In his opening statement, he confirmed the OBR had revised down forecasts for global growth and UK productivity.
The OBR calculated growth was 2.2 per cent last year and predicts it will be two per cent this year and 2.2 per cent in 2017, although Mr Osborne clarified that their predictions were based on the UK voting to remain within the European Union. Voting to leave would cause “disruptive uncertainty” he warned.
Inflation in 2016 will be just 0.7 per cent, down from the one per cent expected in November 2015.
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