The government’s £20 billion national insurance tax cut risks worsening the country’s public finances, the International Monetary Fund has said, as it projected an increase in the UK’s debt burden over the next five years.
In its latest assessment of debt levels across the world economy, the IMF said the UK’s public debt ratio would rise until the end of the decade to 98 per cent of GDP by 2029.
The figures throw doubt on the government’s claims that it can bring down debt within the next five years, in line with the chancellor’s self-imposed fiscal rule.
The IMF’s calculations for the UK’s gross and net debt are lower than measures produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility, but the international body’s calculations show debt
