Watchdog blasts Treasury

THE Government’s independent economic forecaster yesterday had a dig at the Treasury for running behind schedule and causing hiccups in the preparation of data for the Budget.

In the foreword to its Economic and Fiscal Outlook report – which was released alongside the Budget – the Office for Budget Responsibility said the forecast process had been ‘unusually challenging’.

It partly blamed Brexit talks, which squeezed the normal timetable, but it also reflected ‘repeated failures to observe the forecast timetable that was initially agreed between the Treasury and ourselves’.