Business and Economics

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October 31, 2018

Chancellor spends fiscal windfall on increased NHS spending rather than balancing budget

By John Hawksworth, Chief Economist. The big question ahead of this Budget was how the Chancellor would pay for the large increase in NHS spending announced by the Prime Minister back in June. Further spending cuts in areas other than health seemed to have been ruled out by the Prime Minister’s later pledge to ‘end austerity’, so it looked like some combination of higher taxes and higher borrowing would be needed.

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