Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt opened his Spring Budget speech in the House of Commons today (15th March 2023), with a statement from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
Hunt stated that the Prime Minister’s first priority was to halve inflation, adding: “Inflation destroys the value of hard-earned pay, deters investment and foments industrial strife.
“This Government remains steadfast in its support for the independant Monetary Policy Committee [MPC] at the Bank of England as it takes action to return inflation to the 2% target.”
The OBR reported that despite continuing global instability, inflation would fall from 10.7% in Q4 2022, to 2.9% by the end of 2023.
Hunt said that despite this, the economy would shrink by 0.2% this year, according to the OBR.
Labour leader Kier Starmer MP, said: “[This was] a budget for growth that downgrades the growth forecast.”
