Chancellor response to the OECD Interim Economic Outlook March 2023

The Chancellor's response to the OECD Interim Economic Outlook March 2023 is below. 

The Chancellor said:

"The British economy has proven more resilient than many expected, outperforming many forecasts to be the fastest growing economy in the G7 last year, and is on track to avoid recession.

"Earlier this week I set out a plan to grow the economy by unleashing business investment and helping more people into work, alongside extending our significant energy bill support to help with rising prices, made possible by our windfall tax on energy profits."

Notes to editors

Additional information:

• The OECD’s forecast does not take full account of the Budget – which the OBR have said caused them to revise potential output upwards by the largest amount ever in their forecasts.
• The UK avoided recession in 2022, and is now expected to avoid recession this year.
• The UK was the fastest growing economy in the G7 last year. Since 2010, the UK has grown faster than Japan, France, and Italy, and at about the same rate as Germany.
• The OBR forecast shows we are on track to more than halve inflation this year, and reduce debt by the end of the forecast period.
• The IMF are predicting that 90% of advanced economies will see a decline in growth in 2023.
• The Spring Budget delivers on the Chancellor’s plan to get the economy growing again – in a way that does not fuel inflation – with a package of measures under the ‘four Es’. 
• We’ve tackled two of the biggest issues in UK productivity – employment levels and business investment – head on, while also supporting households with cost-of-living pressures.
• The latest OBR forecast says that inflation will fall below 3% this year, and return to the independent Bank of England’s 2% target towards the end of the forecast period.
• We remain steadfast in our support for the independent Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England as it continues to take action to return inflation to its 2% target.