LONDON (Reuters) – British finance minister Philip Hammond said he now had 26.6 billion pounds of fiscal “headroom” — which is earmarked for possible increased spending or tax cuts — up from a previous estimate of 15.4 billion pounds.
Hammond, delivering updated budget forecasts on Wednesday, said the budget deficit forecast for the soon-to-close 2018/19 fiscal year was likely to be 3 billion pounds lower than expected in October, when he made his annual statement.
He said Britain’s public debt was set to fall sustainably “for the first time in a generation.”
The figures were prepared for Hammond by the Office for Budget Responsibility. They assume Britain will secure a Brexit deal, avoiding the shock of leaving the European Union with no transition.