Independent economists told the Commons Treasury Committee on Wednesday 4 November that the Budget was "perceived pretty well" in financial markets, Professional Adviser reports.
According to the report, the witnesses said the Budget largely matched the expectations set by pre-Budget briefings and did not push gilt yields higher.
The panel, chaired by Dame Meg Hillier, was made up of:
- Sanjay Raja, UK chief economist at Deutsche Bank
- Helen Miller, director of the IFS
- Tony Travers, interim dean of the LSE School of Public Policy
- Ruth Curtice, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation
Yahoo News reports that Curtice warned of "extremely difficult trade-offs" at next year's spending review. It says she told MPs that some departments face real-terms cuts unless their budgets are topped up.
On the cost of servicing government debt, she was reported as saying:
"That higher debt interest has meant we are much, much poorer as a country."
The session was separate from the committee's evidence from the OBR's David Miles.