Writing in the Guardian, the Chancellor acknowledged that productivity forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) could make for tough reading. Ms Reeves will hope that better-than-expected inflation figures and a slight improvement in some growth forecasts will help ease the pressure. But the gap could be even bigger than feared, following media reports that the OBR is preparing to downgrade its productivity forecasts by 0.3 percentage points. In her Guardian article, Ms Reeves said she would not “pre-empt” the OBR productivity downgrade, but added she would be “candid” that Britain’s productivity performance under the Conservatives had been “too weak”. Without deeper spending cuts or increased borrowing, the Chancellor will be left with little choice but to raise taxes.
