The Chancellor will be grilled by MPs this week when questions over her Budget and the Office for Budget Responsibility leak will top the agenda.
Also appearing before the Treasury Select Committee are Clare Lombardelli and Swati Dhingra, members of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee who will determine the next move on interest rates on 18 December.
Markets have all but priced in UK interest rates falling to 3.75% (from 4%) after a flurry of data points pointed to a continued decline in inflation levels.
But economists at Oxford Economics have warned that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)’s decision could be tighter than analysts assume given splits in opinions among policymakers.
Ahead of next week’s decision, central banks in Australia, Canada the US and Switzerland will make announcements this week.
The trend in headline borrowing costs in all four countries is down and there have been 126 global interest rate cuts in 2025 to date, against just 21 increases.
DIARY
Monday 8 December
- First Minister John Swinney delivers speech on independence
Tuesday 9 December
- Full-year results from Chemring and Oxford Metrics
- First-half results from Ashtead, Moonpig, Begbies Traynor and Naked Wines
- BRC UK retail sales
- Rightmove UK house price index
- MPC members face Treasury Select Committee
Wednesday 10 December
- First-half results from Redcentric and ProCook
- US Federal Reserve announced interest rate decision
- Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces Treasury Select Committee
Thursday 11 December
- Full-year results from NCC and RWS
Friday 12 December
- UK GDP growth
- UK construction, manufacturing and industrial output growth
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