Article 22QNY Don't mistake autumn statement for infrastructure splurge | Nils Pratley

Don't mistake autumn statement for infrastructure splurge | Nils Pratley

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Nils Pratley
from on (#22QNY)

Details are scant and spending is spread over five years, with uncertainty over what government wants to build

Do not run away with the idea that the chancellor has borrowed the clothes of Donald Trump and ordered an infrastructure splurge. Ploughing 23bn into a new national productivity investment fund sounds impressive until you remember that the HS2 high-speed railway, funded separately, is due to cost 56bn at the last count.

Remember, too, that the 23bn will be spent over five years, so an average of 4.6bn a year. And note that the spending is weighted towards the later years; in the first year, 2017-18, the figure is just 2.4bn.

Related: Philip Hammond admits Brexit vote means 122bn extra borrowing

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