Sunak’s Covid-19 package may not be value for money, warns Treasury economist

Incoming head of OBR says lack of forecasting means emergency measures' success will be hard to gauge

Rishi Sunak's multibillion-pound economic response to Covid-19 has been criticised for lacking transparency by the incoming head of the Treasury's independent tax and spending watchdog.

Richard Hughes, the economist picked by the chancellor to lead the Office for Budget Responsibility, told MPs on the Commons Treasury committee that taxpayers lacked enough information to know whether the measures outlined by Sunak at last week's summer statement would be cost effective.