The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt announced today that he will present the Autumn Statement 2023 to Parliament on November 22.
The Chancellor will update MPs on the country’s finances and set out changes to taxes and spending.
Mr Hunt is facing pressure to reduce taxes after they’ve been hiked to their highest level in over 70 years.
However, he insisted inflation needs to drop before levies can follow suit.
Inflation currently sits at 6.8 percent and the Government aim to drop this to two percent by the end of the year.
On Sunday, Mr Hunt said: “If we are going to put money in people’s pockets quickly, the fastest thing I can do is deliver the Prime Minister’s pledge to halve inflation.
“Because that puts not one pence in the pound which might be a tax cut but five pence in the pound in people’s pockets which they wouldn’t have had if inflation stayed high.”
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has been commissioned to prepare an economic and fiscal forecast to be presented to Parliament alongside his Autumn Statement.
Tom Selby, head of retirement policy at AJ Bell said: “Rishi Sunak has placed tackling the cost-of-living crisis front-and-centre of his premiership after pledging to halve inflation by the end of 2023.
“By the time the Autumn Statement arrives in late November, we should have a pretty clear idea of whether that target – a target the government has very limited control over – will be hit.
“It would clearly be a huge blow to the prime minister and former chancellor, not to mention the Conservative Party at the next election if he fails to deliver on one of his key economic pledges.”
Mr Selby predicts Mr Hunt could use the statement to re-commit to the state pension triple-lock – despite it being a costly and controversial policy, popular with older voters to gain supporters before the upcoming election.
Housing remains one of the biggest issues facing millions of younger people, so further help to those struggling to afford to buy their own homes could likely also be a priority.
In addition, he stated the Autumn Statement could present an opportunity for the Tories to re-establish their credentials as a low-tax political party.
He added: “They could do this by either setting out an intention to reduce tax rates or ending the deep freeze on various tax thresholds, including income tax, which has dragged millions of people into higher tax brackets.”
