Public finances should come good again soon

Last week’s public finance figures suggested that deficit reduction has hit a roadblock. But the path of reduction has hardly been a completely smooth one so far. And the strong economic recovery in recent months is yet to feed through fully to tax receipts. Accordingly, the Chancellor George Osborne could be smiling again come his Autumn Statement on 25th November.

Meanwhile, during his trip to China last week, Mr Osborne announced his intention to make China the UK’s second largest single trading partner (after the US) by 2030. This would involve boosting the UK’s share of exports to China and Hong Kong from 5.2% to just over 8%. Given the share has increased from less than 2% over the last decade or so, this does not seem unrealistic.