Commenting ahead of the Autumn Statement which the Chancellor will deliver on 5 December, KPMG Chief Economist, Andrew Smith, said:
“Disappointing news has become an unfortunate feature of recent Autumn Statements and again this year the Chancellor will have to accept downgrades to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s growth projections. These will not be as savage as last year, when meaningful recovery was postponed for two years, but nevertheless point to further slippage in the fiscal position.
“Even though the bounce-back in output over the summer technically ended the double-dip recession, private forecasters still expect 2012 overall to be no better than flat, against the March Budget forecast of 0.8% growth. The consensus for next year is an improvement, to about 1¼ % - but still below the official 2% projection. With Europe moribund and businesses preferring to sit on rather than spend cash, scope for a switch to export- and investment-led growth to compensate for weak consumption and public spending cuts remains limited.
“Weaker growth threatens Mr Osborne’s fiscal mandate, viz to eliminate the structural current budget deficit on a (rolling) five-year horizon. But as long as the OBR sticks to its longer-term growth projections, the Chancellor could decide to defer any new austerity measures until the end of the forecast period. However, his supplementary target - for public sector net debt to be falling as a percentage of GDP in 2015-16 – is harder to square. This provides the anchor for “Plan A” and if it is overridden in the interests of supporting growth – which we think would be sensible – a replacement will be necessary to reassure the financial markets.
“While the decision to remit to the Treasury some £35 billion of cash held in the Bank of England’s QE fund may cloud the issue, as long as the Chancellor intends to stick to “Plan A” any significant net giveaway is pretty much ruled out. However, there should be scope to reallocate to areas which will give the most bang per buck in terms of growth. Ideally these would include infrastructure spending and supply-side measures - but speculation at the moment centres on postponement of the fuel duty rise planned for January, paid for by changes in the tax treatment of pensions.”
-Ends-
For further information please contact:
Margot Cowhig, KPMG Corporate Communications
Tel: 0207 694 4246 Mobile: 07920 274856: margot.cowhig@kpmg.co.uk
KPMG Press Office: 0207 694 8773
Notes to editors
About KPMG
KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, is a subsidiary of KPMG Europe LLP and operates from 22 offices across the UK with over 11,000 partners and staff. The UK firm recorded a turnover of £1.7 billion in the year ended September 2011. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. We operate in 152 countries and have 145,000 professionals working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. KPMG International provides no client services.
