Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the latest revised forecast by the International Monetary Fund for the British economy, whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer still has confidence in its forecasting.

Britain’s long term economic plan is working, boosting economic security for Britain’s hardworking people. The economy is growing, the deficit has fallen by a third and there are record levels of people in work. But the job is not done and the biggest risk now to the recovery would be abandoning the plan that is delivering a brighter economic future.

The Government’s strategy is to restore the public finances to a sustainable path and the UK is seen as a relative safe haven, with interest rates remaining historically low helping keep interest payments down for households, businesses and the taxpayer.

The IMF set out their latest forecasts in the October 2014 World Economic Outlook. The publication recognises the Government’s long term economic plan is working, that the UK is growing and leaving the crisis behind. The IMF project the UK economy to be the fastest growing G7 economy in 2014, at 3.2 per cent and 2.7 per cent in 2015. Furthermore, the IMF recognise that fiscal consolidation undertaken during the past few years has built trust among financial investors that current fiscal paths are sustainable.