MNI BRIEF: Sunak: Goal Net Debt Must Falling In 3 yrs Time

UK Treasury secretary, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, unveiled new fiscal rules in his Budget Wednesday, with a commitment to a balanced budget rule and declining net debt, He said that the new goal was to have underlying public sector net debt falling as a share of GDP by the third year of the fiscal forecast and for day-to-day spending to be met by tax revenues on the same timeframe.

The balanced budget rule was widely anticipated but there were questions over when he would aim to have debt on a downward path, and the rules exempt investment spending, with 3% of GDP allowed to be allocated to capital investment. The Office for Budget Responsibility' forecasts showed that these targets would be met. The OBR projected inflation would average 4% in 2022. Sunak renewed the Bank of England's 2% inflation remit.

Underlying debt is forecast to be 85.2% of GDP this year, then 85.4% in 2022-23, before peaking at 85.7% in 2023-24. It then falls in the final three years of the forecast from 85.1% to 83.3%. 27/10/2021