OBR to publish financial forecast despite scrapping of Budget

31 Oct 2019

In a letter to the Treasury, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has stated that it will publish forecasts for the UK's public finances despite the cancellation of the 6 November Autumn Budget.

The OBR highlighted the fact that the forecasts were prepared on the basis that the government secured a Brexit deal. The forecasts will be updated to account for some corrections made by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which significantly adjusted the March forecasts for public borrowing.

Borrowing in 2020-21 would be roughly £19 billion more than the OBR's March forecast originally predicted, according to the ONS.

Commenting on the upcoming publication, Mel Stride, Chair of the Treasury Committee, said: 'It's been over six months since the previous Chancellor's final evidence session with the Treasury Committee in April. The current Chancellor has been in office for over three months, and we would hope that he would agree to appear before us sooner rather than later.

'The Chancellor should also set out whether the OBR's new analysis will contribute to their statutory duty to publish two forecasts each fiscal year. If not, he should set out how he will support the OBR in publishing two forecasts in the remaining 22 weeks of the current fiscal year.'

The OBR will publish its restated March forecast on 7 November.