Hammond to borrow extra £90bn after lower productivity forecast

OBR warns chancellor faces long period of sluggish wages growth that will dent tax receipts and increase borrowing

Philip Hammond must borrow an extra 90bn over the next five years after the Treasury's independent forecaster downgraded productivity growth.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned that the chancellor faced a long period of lower than expected wages growth that would dent tax receipts and push up borrowing. The cumulative effect over the life of the parliament would add 90.5bn to the UK's debt pile and jeopardise Hammond's target of balancing the government's books by 2025, it said.

Productivity is an economic measure of the efficiency of a workforce. It typically measures the level of output per hour of work, or per worker.

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The Office for Budget Responsibility is the government's independent forecaster, which gives its verdict on the outlook for growth and the public finances twice a year.