From pensions to pools: what to expect from Hunt’s spring budget
The Guardian says Jeremy Hunt is due to set out the government’s plans for tax and spending in his first budget on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will publish updated economic forecasts and an assessment of the government’s finances for the next five years – running up to and beyond the next election. Here is what to expect.
Government finances
The OBR, which is independent of government, is expected to cut its inflation forecast for this year from 7% to nearer 4% and to provide a sunnier picture of economic growth, revising the projected fall from 1.4% to nearer 0.5%.
It is also expected to say that the spending deficit improved after a rise in tax receipts, mainly due to higher than expected inflation over the last year. Hunt could have as much as £30bn spare and still bring down borrowing over the life of the forecast, though he is likely to bank most of it, keeping aside a war chest to spend before next year’s general election.