UK’s Long-Term Spending Plans Worse Than Fiction, Watchdog Says
- OBR chief calls government’s fiscal plans unsustainable
- Richard Hughes comments before House of Lords committee
The current spending review period, which sets out detailed plans for government departments, ends in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
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The UK government’s spending plans beyond 2025 are so unclear they don’t even qualify as works of fiction, the head of the country’s budget watchdog said.
Richard Hughes, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, told UK lawmakers that current policy settings are “not sustainable” because demographic and spending pressures won’t send the national debt spiraling upwards in the coming decades.