30 Oct 2024Within her Autumn Budget speech, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the UK economy will grow by 1.1% this year, 2% next year and by 1.8% in 2026. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the government's official forecaster, inflation is predicted to average 2.5% this year and 2.6% in 2025. It stated that Budget policies temporarily boost output in the near term, but leave GDP 'largely unchanged' in five years. It also said that Budget policies increase spending by nearly £70 billion a year over the next five years. Half of the increase is funded through tax rises and the other half by a £32 billion a year increase in borrowing. The OBR stated that borrowing is projected to rise from £122 billion last year to £127 billion this year and is predicted to fall to £71 billion in 2029. Additionally, net debt falls as a share of GDP, from 98.4% this year to 97.1% by the end of the decade.