✕CloseChildcare costs to energy bills support: What was announced in Jeremy Hunt’s Budget?
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The outlook for the government’s finances remains “still pretty grim” despite improved forecasts from the UK fiscal watchdog, economists have told MPs ahead of an update on inflation.
The new figures are expected on Wednesday morning.
A panel of experts told Parliament’s Treasury Committee that households are facing a “two-year living standard squeeze” as a result of higher energy bills and tax rises.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has further anticipated a 5.7% decrease in real households’ disposable income per person between 2022/23 and 2023/24.
In November 2022, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figure on inflation hit 11.1%, the highest mark since October 1981.
Gas and electricity prices were seen to drive November’s overall rise, with food prices experiencing the largest increase since 1977.
According to Ipsos’s latest poll, the cost of living remains the public’s overwhelming priority. Though March’s figures have come down since its peak in August 2022, 39% of respondents confirmed that it remained their largest concern.
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Outlook for government finances ‘still pretty grim’, economists warn MPs
The outlook for the government’s finances remains “still pretty grim” despite improved forecasts from the UK fiscal watchdog, economists have told MPs ahead of an update on inflation.
The new figures are expected on Wednesday morning.
A panel of experts also told Parliament’s Treasury Committee that households are facing a “two-year living standard squeeze” as a result of higher energy bills and tax rises.
It comes after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt promised a major expansion in state-funded childcare and tax breaks for businesses in last week’s Budget.
The Government’s official forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), also confirmed last week that the UK economy is now on track to avoid a technical recession, which means two consecutive quarters of decline.
Henry Saker-Clark has the full story:
Outlook for government finances ‘still pretty grim’, economists warn MPs
It comes after Jeremy Hunt promised a major expansion in state-funded childcare and tax breaks for businesses in last week’s budget.
Eleanor Noyce21 March 2023 20:211679429892
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Eleanor Noyce21 March 2023 20:181679432410
House sales dip but average fixed mortgage rates hit a six-month low
House sales fell by nearly a fifth (18%) in February 2023 compared with the same month a year earlier, in signs that the housing market is slowing, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Across the UK, an estimated 90,340 homes were sold in February this year, which was 4% lower than in January 2023.
HMRC’s report said: “Towards the end of last year mortgage and interest rates increased and we are starting to see the impacts of those changes within these statistics.
“Seasonally adjusted residential property transactions appear depressed, indicating a slowing of the housing market.”
The figures were released as financial information website Moneyfacts said average two and five-year fixed-rate mortgages have edged down to their lowest levels in six months.
Vicky Shaw reports:
House sales dip but average fixed mortgage rates hit a six-month low
The number of house sales in February was 18% lower than in February 2022, but there have been recent signs of some mortgage rates edging down.
Eleanor Noyce21 March 2023 21:00✕
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