Tax & Spend
Reeves Ready to Slash Spending Plans to Stay Within Fiscal Rules
- UK Chancellor needs to find savings ahead of spring forecasts
- Treasury wants to impose early discipline on departments
Rachel Reeves
Photographer: Dwayne Senior/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Rachel Reeves is preparing to cut back her spending plans and demand the public sector improves its woeful levels of productivity, as Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer tries to repair a hole in the government’s finances.
The reduction in spending is set to be revealed at Reeves’ spring statement on March 26, when she’s also due to present the latest economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility, according to people familiar with the matter. Preliminary OBR forecasts privately seen by Reeves have shown that she’s on course to miss her key fiscal target, resulting in the need for lower spending.