As Hunt appears before the Treasury Committee for his Autumn Statement grilling he’ll have some grim reading from the Organisation of Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) under his arm. New forecasts today have the global economy performing better than expected – just not the UK. Britain’s 2023 growth is expected to sit at 0.5%, while the forecast for 2024 has been downgraded from 0.7% in the OECD’s September interim report to 0.6%. Growth in 2025 is predicted to pick up to only 1.2%. Meanwhile, expected inflation is uprated to the highest in the G7…

UK growth is coming in at well below the G20 and OECD average of 1.4%, and in 2024 only Argentina and sluggish Germany will perform worse. Recommendations include “reforming the costly triple lock uprating of state pensions” and considering the fact that “fiscal pressure on households and businesses has increased significantly” from stealth tax rises.The OECD is warning Sunak to”swiftly implementing planned supply-side reforms to boost potential growth“. Or face doom…