U.K.'s Osborne Set to Detail Cost-Cutting Agenda

        By Jon Sindreu
        LONDON--U.K. Treasury chief George Osborne's budget that he will deliver on Wednesday will be a key focus of interest for economists, who are awaiting further details on the British government's cost-cutting plans.
        Mr. Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer, has promised to slash departmental spending by 30 billion pounds ($46.8 billion) and welfare spending by a further GBP12 billion over the next five years. Analysts will be looking for more specifics on where the spending cuts will fall.
        Current estimates by the Office for Budget Responsibility, the U.K.'s independent fiscal watchdog, suggest the cuts are likely to be steeper in the first two years. According to these projections, which analysts expect will remain broadly unchanged Wednesday, government borrowing is expected to fall by GBP15 billion by March next year and a further GBP35 billion pounds a year after that. Austerity policies would ease from then on.
        "It is understandable (politically) that the Chancellor wants to front-load the pain in this parliament," Scotiabank economists Alan Clarke and Frederic Pretet said in a research note Friday. "Nonetheless, the step-up in the pace of tightening during 2016-17 is striking."
        Also due this coming week, analysts expect official figures to confirm the manufacturing sector continued to stall in May.
        (Figures in parentheses refer to number of economists surveyed.)
        Write to Jon Sindreu at jon.sindreu@wsj.com
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        July 03, 2015 12:40 ET (16:40 GMT)

#FX
#Forex
#SaleForex
#UK_Osborne
#SetDetails
#CostCuttingAgenda