Treasury Committee calls for OBR forecast and Chancellor’s statement to be brought forward

The Treasury Committee today writes to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP, calling for a full economic forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to be released by the end of October. 

• Letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer

This follows correspondence from the OBR confirming that its initial forecast will be provided to the Chancellor on Friday 7 October. The Committee argues the fiscal event and OBR forecast planned for the 23rd November should be brought forward given “continued uncertainty within markets”, that it would benefit a key meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee on 3rd November and because a meaningful OBR forecast can be provided earlier.  

The correspondence also seeks confirmation that the Chancellor will publish without delay the initial Economic and Fiscal Forecast that the OBR have confirmed they provided to him on his arrival in office, and reiterates an invitation for him to appear before the Committee shortly after the conference recess, and invitation he has initially declined. 

Last week, the Committee requested assurance that the Government would publish an Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast alongside Friday’s fiscal event.  

This followed confirmation that the OBR began preparatory work on a forecast in July for a possible September announcement. The OBR committed to providing the most complete picture of the economic outlook as possible, and to a standard that met the requirements of the OBR Charter.