Rishi Sunak delays fiscal statement until 17 November

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Rishi Sunak has delayed the announcement of the government’s fiscal plans from 31 October to 17 November and said it will be a full autumn statement, telling his cabinet that time needed to be made to do things in the proper way.

Sunak said the statement would be accompanied by a full forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, said he had agreed the change of date with Sunak and that the statement would set out in detail plans to reduce debt and a medium-term plan to grow the economy.

Sunak said it was “important to reach the right decisions and there is time for those decisions to be confirmed with cabinet”.

The new date means the economic plans and the OBR forecasts will not be made available before the next meeting of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC), which sets interest rates, on 3 November.

Hunt said the change of plans had been discussed with the Bank’s governor, Andrew Bailey, and he “understands the reasons for doing that and I’ll continue to work very closely with him”.

Hunt said: “I want to confirm that it will demonstrate debt falling over the medium term, which is really important for people to understand. But it’s also extremely important that that statement is based on the most accurate possible economic forecasts and forecasts of public finances.

“And for that reason the prime minister and I have decided it is prudent to make that statement on 17 November when it will be upgraded to a full autumn statement.”

It is the second time the date of the statement has been changed. It was originally announced by Kwasi Kwarteng for 23 November, but then brought forward under intense political and economic pressure to 31 October, in part in order to inform the MPC’s meeting.

Bailey had previously welcomed the move to make the fiscal statement before the possible rates rise decision, calling it the “correct sequence”, and said it would be helpful to know the “full scope of fiscal policy by then”.