The Office for Budget Responsibility has published details of the Budget early.
In an extraordinary development, minutes before the chancellor’s speech, the Budget watchdog revealed the government’s plans to:
- impose a new “mansion tax” on homes worth more than £2m;
- cut household energy bills by lowering green levies at a cost of £2.3bn;
- remove the exemption from National Insurance on salary-sacrificed pension contributions.
The OBR also lifted its inflation forecast from 2.1% to 2.5% next year. The pound rose in anticipation that interest rates will not be cut as much as thought.
It apologised for the early release of its “Economic and fiscal outlook” which was the result of a “technical error”. It removed the documents and said they would be re-published when the chancellor had finished her Budget speech.
