UK Annual Budget Release

Britain’s Labour government will come under intense scrutiny on Wednesday, as Finance Minister Rachel Reeves prepares to update lawmakers on her spending and taxation plans and the nation’s economic outlook amid unsettling times for the U.K. Reeves is expected to announce billions of pounds worth of spending cuts as a way to close a budget shortfall caused by a rise in borrowing costs since her first fiscal plan, released last fall. The finance minister has already vowed to stick to her self-imposed “fiscal rules” set out in the ...

Tomorrow welcomes the UK February CPI inflation print (Consumer Price Index) at 7:00 am GMT, followed by UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves claiming the spotlight with her Spring Statement. The Statement is expected to be announced around 12:30 pm GMT, following Prime Minister’s Questions. Price pressures are still too high despite year-on-year (YY) CPI inflation poised to moderately cool in February. According to the median estimate provided by Refinitiv, YY headline CPI inflation is expected to have eased to 2.9% from 3.0% in January ...

Another week has come and gone. The US Federal Reserve (Fed), the Bank of England (BoE), and the Bank of Japan (BoJ) all left their respective policy rates unchanged. The Fed underlined increased economic uncertainty (most central banks emphasised similar concerns), with growth (inflation) forecasts revised lower (higher). The BoE’s meeting was a bit of a snoozer, though the vote split echoed assumed more of a hawkish vibe – hence the immediate (albeit short-lived) rally in the British pound (GBP), and the BoJ hinted at further ...

Several billion pounds in spending cuts - including from the welfare budget - are expected in the spring statement later this month. The Treasury will put forward the proposed cuts to the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) on Wednesday, ahead of it providing a financial forecast on 26 March, alongside Chancellor Rachel Reeves announcing her spring statement.Sky's deputy political editor Sam Coates revealed on the Politics at Jack and Sam's podcast that welfare cuts are set to be part of the spring statement package to help the ...

This time it's personal: UK's Sunak and Starmer ramp up the attacks as election looms Chancellor Budget 2024: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak takes questions in parliament before British Finance Minister Hunt delivers statement on UK's Spring Budget 2024. Hunt will seek a way to cut taxes in his budget to help Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's bleak election prospects but he must tread carefully to avoid upsetting bond markets, 18 months after the "mini-budget" crisis of former premier Liz Truss. British Finance Minister Hunt presents ...

Amid concerns over the UK’s escalating tax burden, heightened by pandemic-induced spending and fiscal drag, the Budget is expected to address taxation policies. The government’s decision to freeze tax thresholds until 2028 has drawn attention to the concept of fiscal drag, wherein taxpayers are inadvertently pushed into higher tax brackets due to inflation-driven income growth. Chancellor Hunt faces pressure to alleviate this burden, although limited fiscal headroom presents challenges to substantial tax cuts. Potential Tax Policy ...