Sir Charlie Bean, of the Office for Budget Responsibility, said that if productivity were addressed it would “completely swamp the Brexit consequences” MATT LLOYD FOR THE TIMESRaising productivity is a far bigger economic challenge for Britain than Brexit, senior officials at the Office for Budget Responsibility said yesterday as they hit back at allegations of bias. Leave supporting politicians have accused the office of producing excessively gloomy forecasts that cast Brexit in a bad light but Robert Chote, chairman of the government’s fiscal watchdog, said the claims were “without any foundation whatsoever”. Sir Charlie Bean, the office’s lead macroeconomist, said: “The big issue economically is productivity. If we could do something to address that successfully it would completely swamp the Brexit consequences, whatever they are.”The watchdog, which estimates the cost of government policies and the economy’s health, last week unveiled dismal forecasts as it downgraded growth on the assumption that…

Source: The Times December 01, 2017 00:00 UTC