Five key points from Osborne's Autumn Statement

Chancellor George Osborne presented his 2013 Autumn Statement to the House of Commons this week, declaring Britain is on the road to economic recovery. Here is our round up of five key points from the Statement.

1 OBR raises UK GDP forecasts The Office for Budget Responsibility has raised its forecast for UK growth over the next few years. GDP growth for 2013 was revised to 1.4%, well above the 0.6% predicted by the OBR in March. It also raised GDP forecasts for 2014 from 1.8% to 2.4%. However, 2015’s forecast was revised down from 2.3% to 2.2%, with 2016’s 2.7% annual growth prediction revised to 2.6% and 2017’s 2.8% forecast cut to 2.7%. 2 UK to run budget surplus by 2018/9 The UK is on course to operate a budget surplus by the 2018/9 tax year – two years later than predicted in 2010...