Osborne’s economic plan flawed, Britain may need more austerity – IFS

Chancellor George Osborne’s new fiscal regime is deeply flawed and will either have to be suspended or will involve more punitive austerity, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned.

The think tank made the assessment during its annual “Green Budget” event held in central London on Monday.

The event, which was organized in association with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, involved discussions on the government’s austerity agenda, related risks to public finances, the state’s corporate taxation policy and welfare reforms.

The new fiscal regime, which has been sharply criticized by economists, is called the Charter for Budget Responsibility. It requires the government to run a budget surplus by 2020 and works to maintain a surplus in “normal” economic times – or when GDP growth is higher than 1 percent.

Full article at RT