The Office for Budget Responsibility has halved the UK growth forecast for 2025 from 2% to 1%, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said.
However, the fiscal watchdog said that while growth has been downgraded for this year, it had been upgraded for every year after for the rest of this parliament – which is due to end in 2029.
The chancellor said she is “not satisfied with these numbers” as she delivered her long-awaited spring statement in the House of Commons this afternoon.
She told MPs: “That is why we on this side of the House are serious about taking the action needed to grow our economy. Backing the builders, not the blockers, with a third runway at Heathrow Airport and the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.”
Ms Reeves also highlighted reforms to the pension system and a national wealth fund, adding it was part of a “serious plan” for economic growth.
Additionally, the chancellor announced that a voluntary redundancy scheme is set to launch for civil servants.
She said this is part of her mission to “make government leaner”, adding it will deliver £3.5bn in “day-to-day savings by 2029-30”.
Ms Reeves previously said she is “confident” that 10,000 civil service jobs can be axed after numbers ballooned during the pandemic.
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