The rumour mill has been a little quieter than usual. But the Chancellor is surely piecing together a package of giveaways for his Autumn Statement – perhaps something in the region of about £7bn in 2017/18 – which focuses on increased infrastructure spending, boosting business investment and targets households who are set to feel the pinch from rising inflation. Admittedly, given the previous plans for a large fiscal tightening, this wouldn’t amount to an outright loosening of fiscal policy. But the drag from fiscal policy in 2017/18 would still be less than both that expected in the Budget and that in 2015/16 and 2016/17.
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