“Many of today’s announcements will be forgotten within a year,” said Christopher Mahon, director of asset allocation research at Baring Asset Management. “The broad curvature of the UK recovery will take place despite, rather than because of, the Budget today. The details will make little difference to the overall run rate of the economy. Brexit is, of course, the question du jour, and dealing with the deficit has been left to another day.
“So the big issues were ducked. Government debt appears to be back in fashion. Big increases in the deficit are planned. Decisions that were leaked over the previous weeks, including pension reform, delaying state pension age further and national insurance simplification, all were ignored. So while the headlines about sugar taxes or Lifetime Isas will abound, the UK cannot have its cake and eat it.
“The big issues will catch up, but for now expect the country to continue its economic trajectory regardless.”
