Budget 2016: Osborne 'has only 50-50 chance' of hitting surplus target
by Heather Stewart and Larry Elliott from Economics | The Guardian on (#17CE2)
Chancellor will have to raise taxes or make further cuts if OBR downgrades its forecasts again, IFS thinktank says
George Osborne has only a 50% chance of fulfilling his plans to deliver a 10bn surplus on the public finances by 2020, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said.
On Wednesday, Osborne was forced to acknowledge in his budget statement that a sharp deterioration in the growth forecasts published by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) meant the public finances were 56bn weaker than expected over the next five years, more than reversing the 27bn windfall the OBR predicted as recently as November.
Related: Budget 2016: magical thinking from charmed world of the chancellor | Jonathan Freedland
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