Liz Truss, the prime minister, is rebuffing efforts to publish the independent fiscal watchdog’s analysis of her tax plans earlier than planned.
On November 23, when the chancellor is scheduled to present more economic initiatives, the Treasury has indicated that the OBR’s forecast will be made public.
This should happen sooner, according to several Conservative MPs, in order to reassure the financial markets.
The Treasury contends that you ought to hold off until more modifications are declared.
These “supply side” changes to stimulate growth are expected to include measures in eight areas – business regulation, agriculture, housing and planning, immigration, mobile and broadband, financial services, childcare, and energy.
Last week, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng set out some of the government’s tax and spending plans – including a surprise announcement that it would scrap the 45% highest tax band for high earners.
However, his mini-budget was not accompanied by a forecast from the OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility), something which helped to fuel market turmoil.
In the days following the announcement, the pound slumped against the dollar and the Bank of England was forced to spend £65bn to protect pension funds.
After a meeting between Ms Truss, Mr Kwarteng and the OBR on Friday morning, the government confirmed the rest of its economic plans would be published on 23 November, alongside an OBR forecast.
The Treasury will receive the OBR’s first draft on 7 October, but that won’t be made public.
Some of Ms Truss’s own MPs have raised concerns about the timetable.
Waveney MP Peter Aldous said the timing of last Friday’s plan had been “hopelessly wrong”, and the rest of the details should be brought forward to October.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said moving the date forward would give international markets and his constituents “reassurance”.
And speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme, Sir Charles Walker accused ministers of “naivety and hubris”.
He said they had done “very little explaining” of their tax announcements and the markets had been “spooked”.
Elsewhere Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the government, by waiting until 23 November, was allowing the UK economy to “fly blind” for two months.
“Families and businesses can’t afford to wait any longer for this government to fix their botched, unfair budget,” he said.
Former Conservative Chancellor George Osborne, who established the OBR, welcomed No 10’s decision to confirm that its next financial statement would be accompanied by an OBR assessment.
“In the space of one week we’ve gone from the OBR being dismissed to the PM turning up to its meetings… turns out the credibility of the institution we created 12 years ago to bring honesty to the public finances is more enduring than that of its critics.”
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Treasury minister Andrew Griffith defended the government’s decision not to publish an OBR forecast when it announced its initial tax and spend plans last Friday.
He said the government had a number of measures planned to grow the economy that had yet to be fully set out in detail, arguing there was a “wholly wrong perception this is not a fiscally responsible government”.
The OBR confirmed on Thursday it had offered to provide a forecast for the mini-budget, but the chancellor had rejected that.