This is the first Budget of the new Government and will be the first Budget where the Office for Budget Responsibility, also announced today, will provide the forecasts for the economy and public finances.
Commenting, George Osborne said: “Let me briefly explain how the process will work.
“The specific allocations of in-year savings will be announced a week today. These will include significant reductions to the cost of quangos.
“The emergency Budget will then set out the fiscal path and the spending totals needed to achieve it over the coming years, underpinned by the OBR’s independent forecasts.
“The Budget will also contain measures to boost enterprise, create a fairer tax system, and demonstrate to the world that Britain is open for business.
“The Spending Review will then report in the Autumn, informed by the Strategic Defence Review.
“So, in the space of less than a week this new coalition government has already:
• changed the way that Budgets are made, forever;
• created a new independent office that will restore confidence in the numbers that underpin the budget;
• set in train the creation of the first independently audited national balance sheet;
• confirmed immediate action to identify £6 billion of wasteful spending this year, while protecting the most vulnerable in our society and the quality of front line services on which people depend;
• and set out the steps towards an emergency Budget that will show that Britain can live within its means and will provide the solid foundation for a private sector recovery
“That is the route to a stable, balanced economy that works for everyone.”
