HL Deb 21 October 1998 vol 593 cc177-8WA
Lord Blackwell

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What are the Treasury's estimates of the impact of the lower economic growth rates recently predicted by the Chancellor of the Exchquer on projections for the current budget surplus or deficit and the Public Sector Borrowing Requirement for 1999–2000; what assumptions on changes in unemployment levels are included; and what increase in the basic rate of income tax would raise sufficient revenue to restore the current budget surplus for 1999–2000 to the level set out in the Chancellor's July 1998 Statement or restore the Public Sector Borrowing Requirement to the level set out in the Financial Statement and Budget Report published in March 1998. [HL3408]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

A new forecast of the public finances will be published in the Pre-Budget Report on 3 November.