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Article information
- Author, Dharshini David
- Role, Chief economics correspondent, BBC News
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25 May 2024
A leading think tank has issued a stark warning about the financial challenges awaiting the next government.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says the state of public finances hangs over the election campaign “like a dark cloud”.
It warns more tax rises or cuts to public services could lie ahead.
It calls for an “open and robust” discussion about how all the parties will tackle these.
Both Labour and the Conservatives have committed to get debt falling as a share of national income. All the major parties would likely have a similar form of self-imposed rules in order to keep the government’s cost of borrowing from financial markets down.
But the independent IFS claims that high interest payments on existing debt and low expected economic growth could make…