An autumn statement will be made on 29 November, the Chancellor George Osborne has announced.
The statement will be used to give an update on the state of the economy, and respond to the latest economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which was set up last year to provide independent and authoritative analysis of the UK’s public finances.
The announcement comes after George Osborne described the economic recovery as abnormal at the Lloyds of London Annual City Dinner last night. Speaking of the difference between a normal economic recovery, and a recovery from financial crises, Osborne said:
“I have said many times now, this is not a normal economic recovery. We cannot just sit back and wait for numbers that went down to come back up, or for lost ground to be made up.
“Globally we are living through a painful and fundamental re-adjustment of a model of global growth that was badly broken; a model of growth fuelled by unbalanced global demand and amplified by poorly regulated financial markets.
“In short a model of growth built on unsustainable debt.”
The OBR is expected to downgrade its previous forecast of 1.7 per cent growth for the UK economy in 2011, as more reports come in indicating a slump. Last night the Chancellor recognised the fact that revisions to growth forecasts have had to be made:
“So, while we have all had to revise down our short term expectations over recent weeks, the only people who should be fundamentally re-examining their view of the world are those who thought that this time was different.”
Recent reports have shown that growth in the service and manufacturing sectors have been hit hard in recent months, while the British Chambers of Commerce has reduced its forecast for UK growth for the third time this year.
