The Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, has announced that he will be holding a ‘Medium-Term Fiscal Plan’ immediately following the publication of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) economic and fiscal forecast on 31 October 2022. He has brought forward this date; it had been previously announced in November.
The Chancellor upset the financial markets when he gave his Mini-budget in September without commissioning an accompanying forecast by the OBR. After reversing many of the tax increases announced by his predecessor, the markets became worried about the combination of rising inflation and lack of growth in the UK economy. Pressure has been building on him to request that the OBR makes its full Autumn reports. The OBR makes two forecast reports, normally in Spring and in Autumn.
In a letter to Treasury Select Committee, the now Chancellor confirms that he will attend the Committee soon after 31 October and that he will respond to the Committee’s report on Jobs, growth and productivity after Coronavirus following further growth measure announcements throughout October and the announcement of the Government’s Medium-Term Fiscal Plan.
It is difficult to tell, at this stage, whether the new Fiscal Plan will include any more tax announcements (i.e. if it will be another mini-budget).
