(Adds detail from OBR forecasts)
By David Milliken
LONDON, March 15 (Reuters) - Britain remains on track
for a record fall in living standards over the two years to the
end of March 2024, despite an upward revision to growth
forecasts, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said on
Wednesday.
The OBR said real household disposable income per person was
on course to fall by a cumulative 5.7% over 2022/23 and 2023/24,
1.4 percentage points less than it forecast in November but
still the biggest two-year drop since records began in 1956/57.
The fall mainly reflected the higher cost of energy and
other goods imports, and living standards were still expected to
be 0.4% below pre-pandemic levels in 2027/28, the OBR added in
forecasts alongside finance minister Jeremy Hunt's annual
budget.
"Developments since our November forecast have been
largely positive, but the economy still faces significant
structural challenges," the OBR said.
Britain's tax burden, measured as a share of economic
output, was on course to rise to its highest since World War Two
at 37.7% by 2027/28, while public spending would settle at
43.4%, its highest since the 1970s.
The OBR also said it stuck with its assessment that the
costs of Brexit - through reduced trade and investment as well
as immigration barriers - would lower Britain's productivity by
4% over the long term compared with staying in the EU.
(Reporting by David Milliken; editing by William James and Kate
Holton)
