OBR independence 'a major advantage' for UK economy

Treasury Committee hearing

clock • 4 min read

The independence of the Office for Budget Responsibility's (OBR) is highly valuable, the Treasury Committee has been told at a hearing yesterday (19 May).

In a session aiming to glean a foreign perspective, committee chair Meg Hillier and other members sought views on the OBR's role and effectiveness relative to international peers, after it reached 15 years of service.  The session also coincided with speculation the government wants to alter the fiscal rules it uses to make tax and spending decisions, which has big implications for the OBR's work. Laura van Geest, chair of the executive board of the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), and Douglas Elmendorf, professor of public policy at Kennedy School of Government, Harva...

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