UK Chancellor Reeves waves off £50 billion budget deficit forecast

United Kingdom (UK) Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves dismissed concerns from Britain's National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) that the UK government may need to dip into International Monetary Fund (IMF) funding pools in the future if Parliament can't sort out its budget issues.

Chancellor Reeves claimed that "real economists" don't expect the UK to need IMF funding assistance. NIESR is the UK's largest employer of economists and economic analysts, and the Director of NIESR is Dr. David Aikman, the former Profess of Finance at King's Business School and the founding Director of the Qatar Centre for Global Banking and Finance.

Key highlights

Reeves dismisses NIESR forecast that the UK faces a £50 billion budget gap.
The NIESR has got their numbers wrong in recent years.
Reeves rejects budget speculation as people "talking rubbish."
Serious economists don't expect the UK to need help from the IMF.
The UK is not immune to the global rise in borrowing costs.