§ Mr. Stephen O'BrienTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures he would take, following a decision to implement a discretionary fiscal policy to stabilise the economy to ensure that departmental expenditure reinforces policy regarding taxation, in order to maintain macroeconomic stability, as discussed in the Treasury document Fiscal stabilisation and EMU. [121555]
§ Mr. BoatengDepartmental expenditure plans are set within a framework that is consistent with the Government's objective of achieving fiscal sustainability and therefore macroeconomic stability. In the event of EMU entry, using government spending for stabilisation purposes would not be sensible, as any changes made would involve long inside lags and frequent changes would conflict with the current medium-term spending framework.