UK BUDGET: Tax up, growth downgraded as budget details released early

The UK’s economy will grow more slowly than predicted over the next four years, according to a forecast that was published early in a budget blunder.

The Office for Budget Responsibility forecast gross domestic product would grow by 1.5% this year, an increase from its earlier 1% forecast.

But it downgraded growth in 2026 to 1.4% from 1.9%, in 2027 to 1.5% from 1.8%, in 2028 to 1.5% from 1.7% and in 2029 to 1.5% from 1.8%.

The OBR document also confirmed Rachel Reeves’s budget ‘raises taxes by amounts rising to £26 billion in 2029-30, through freezing personal tax thresholds and a host of smaller measures’.

By David Hughes, PA Political Editor

source: PA

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