Osborne Says U.K. Growth Forecast Cut as Deficit Seen Wider

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne unveiled a cut in the government’s economic growth forecasts and said the budget deficit will take longer to tame than he originally planned.

Forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility show the economy will shrink 0.1 percent this year instead of the 0.8 percent growth predicted in March, and expand 1.2 percent next year instead of 2 percent, Osborne said in his autumn statement to Parliament. He extended his fiscal consolidation by one year to the 2017-18 fiscal year and said he will miss his target to start cutting debt as a percentage of gross domestic product in 2015 by a year.