Rachel Reeves plans ‘targeted action’ on bills in Budget


Another option is to reduce some of the regulatory levies currently added to bills.

The government will receive the next draft from the official forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), on Monday, which will reveal how much space there is for such a measure.

The expectation from most analysts is that Reeves will have to announce tax rises or spending cuts in order to meet her self-imposed borrowing rules

Earlier on Thursday, the Institute for Fiscal Studies calculated there was a £22bn gap for the chancellor to fill, which is at the lower end of expectations.

“There’s a shared job between the Bank of England and the government to bear down further on some of the causes of inflation,” Reeves told the BBC in Washington, at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

While much of the focus has been on likely tax rises, the chancellor said the latest information from the OBR had not changed her commitment to manifesto promises not to raise rates on income tax, VAT or National Insurance.

She blamed an “uncertain world” with rising geopolitical and trade concerns for the Budget tax moves, likely to be focused on those “with the broadest shoulders”.


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