Chancellor names date of spring statement – Daily Business

Rachel Reeves has announced that she will deliver a spring statement on 3 March which will provide an update on the economy and the public finances.

She has asked the independent budget watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), to “prepare an economic and fiscal forecast” for publication on the same day.

But there will be no assessment of the government’s performance against the fiscal mandate as the Treasury has committed to delivering only one major fiscal event a year, at the autumn budget.

Analysts, however, expect more than a progress report, particularly as the last spring statement include welfare cuts, extra money for construction training and defence, and a crackdown on tax avoidance.

There are also elections in May, notably in Scotland where the Scottish Labour Party will be looking for significant support from the Treasury.

In her November budget the Chancellor said her actions would shave 0.5 percentage points from inflation but economists and businesses will be looking for a pick up in economic activity.

She was forced to deny misleading the public over the state of the public finances and said she had been “upfront” about her decision-making.