Summary Britain has set conditions for reducing public debt relative to economic output.
LONDON, Dec 05, 2012 (AFP) - Britain admitted on Wednesday that it would not meet its critically important target for reducing public debt relative to economic output until after the next general election, dealing a blow to the government.
Finance minister George Osborne said that debt as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) would start to fall in 2016-2017 and not in the previous fiscal year as earlier forecast. Britain s next election is due in 2015.
"The point at which debt starts to fall has been delayed by one year, to 2016-2017," Chancellor of the Exchequer Osborne said in a budget update before parliament.
"In short, the tougher economic conditions mean that while our deficit is forecast to go on falling, instead of taking three years to get our debt falling, it s going to take four."
Public sector net debt was forecast to stand at 74.7 percent in the current 2012-2013 financial year, before increasing to 76.8 percent in 2013-2014, 79.0 percent in 2014-2015 and 79.9 percent in 2015-2016.
It was then projected to start falling in the 2016-2017 financial year to 79.2 percent, before dropping to 77.3 percent in 2017-2018.
The OBR had previously predicted in March that net debt would fall to 76.0 percent of economic output in 2015/2016.
