An OBR-style watchdog has been appointed to monitor progress,but it needs teethThats the budget out of the way – now for the main course. The government’s white paper on industrial strategy, to be unveiled on Monday, and could be a far more meaningful moment for the UK economy than chancellor Philip Hammond’s set of safety-first policy tweaks.
The budget measures,in any case, were completely overshadowed by the Office for Budget Responsibility’s gloomy economic forecasts and its downgrade of the UK’s productivity growth. It is only the unique industrial strategy, or 16 months in the making,that stands a serious chance of improving the UK’s performance.
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Source: guardian.co.uk