Adding to the unease is that the Office for Budget Responsibility’s prediction for productivity growth is starting to look, according to one economist, insane.
Even slicing 0.1 percentage point off the OBR’s forecasts would leave the Chancellor with a black hole of up to £8bn, one which could only be filled with more tax hikes or slashing public spending.
Even slicing 0.1 percentage point off the OBR’s forecasts would leave the Chancellor with a black hole of up to £8billion, one which could only be filled with more tax hikes or slashing public spending.
Yet the biggest risk is that, despite last month’s GDP figures showing an anaemic 0.1 per cent growth, we are close to recession territory.
Which then begs a second question, whether the combination of higher inflation – and higher wage growth – will allow the Bank of England to go-ahead with its expected interest rate cuts.
