Autumn Statement 2015: Osborne announces £8bn drop in borrowing; U-turns on tax credits

U-turns on tax credit cuts

Laura Dew
clock

Chancellor George Osborne has committed to borrowing £8bn less than forecast in the summer Budget, allowing the government to reach a surplus while making less severe cuts in the next few years.

Speaking today, Osborne (pictured) said this saving will allow him to spend £12bn more on capital expenditure, allowing faster progress in building key infrastructure. He revealed that, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility, borrowing will be £73.5bn this year, down from £74.1bn initially expected. This would fall to £49.9bn in 2016/2017, reaching a surplus of £10.1bn in 2019/2020. The latest figures also show national debt is forecast to be 82.5% of national income this year, based on a new measure of calculation, lower than the 83.6% predicted in the summer Budget. This ...

To continue reading this article...

Join Investment Week for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, analysis and opinion from the investment industry, including the Sustainable Hub covering fund news from the ESG space
  • Get ahead of regulatory and technological changes affecting fund management
  • Important and breaking news stories selected by the editors delivered straight to your inbox each day
  • Weekly members-only newsletter with exclusive opinion pieces from leading industry experts
  • Be the first to hear about our extensive events schedule and awards programmes

Join now

 

Already an Investment Week
member?

Login

Trustpilot