Britain’s fiscal watchdog has called into question the Chancellor’s target for balancing the books, saying the Government may not eradicate the deficit before 2031. Britain’s fiscal watchdog has called into question the Chancellor’s target for balancing the books, saying the Government may not eradicate the deficit before 2031. Speaking after the Budget, OBR chairman Robert Chote said he could not make a definitive judgement, but cast doubt over the Government hitting the target under current policy. While it also revised down deficit predictions from £40.8 billion to £39.5 billion in 2018, the watchdog hiked its long-term forecasts. It revised borrowing up from £21.4 billion to £34.7 billion in 2019, from £20.6 billion to £32.8 billion in 2020, and from £16.8 billion to £30.1 billion in 2021.

Source: Irish Independent November 22, 2017 19:30 UTC