Source: Sharecast
HM Treasury confirmed that chancellor Rachel Reeves would present her budget to Parliament on 26 November, nearly a month later than last year’s. Most budgets are held in October.
The Treasury added that the Office for Budget Responsibility had been commissioned to prepare economic and fiscal forecasts, to be presented at the same time.
The chancellor is under pressure to cut high levels of government spending and ballooning debts while also boosting sluggish growth.
Inflation, at 3.8%, also remains above the Bank of England’s long-term target of 2%.
There has been speculation that a number of spending cuts could be pushed through ahead of the later-than-usual budget. A number of analysts still believe tax rises will be unavoidable, however, despite election promises to the contrary.
In a video message confirming the date, Reeves said: "Britain’s economy isn’t broken. But I know it’s not working well enough for working people.
"We need to bring inflation and borrowing costs down…by keeping a tight grip on day-to-day spending and by enforcing my non-negotiable fiscal rules."
Confirmation of the budget date comes amid an unsettled period for markets, which has seen safe haven asset prices surge while bonds are sold off. In the UK, 30-year gilt yields briefly surpassed 5.7%, the highest for nearly three decades.
Global debt markets are becoming increasingly unnerved by the number of political and economic risks, including uncertainty over US policies, sluggish growth and sticky inflation.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Bond investors are worried about the state of the public finances and uncertainty over how the government will fill the black hole. Reeves is under pressure to produce new solutions at the forthcoming budget, and we could see further volatility on the bond market ahead of this.
"The rise in the gilt yield sends a clear message - that investors believe the UK is now a riskier proposition and they want a higher return for lending money to the government."
