Economic Affairs Committee to hear evidence on the Government’s debt target

At 3pm on Tuesday 8 October, the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee will hear evidence from: 

• Isabel Stockton, Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies
• Ben Zaranko, Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies
• Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government.

This one-off evidence session focuses on the current debate around the Government’s debt target and whether the target should be changed as a means to free up fiscal ‘headroom’ (over the current five-year horizon). It  follows the committee’s recent inquiry into the national debt.

 This evidence session, which is open to the public, will be held in Committee Room 2 of the House of Lords. It will also be streamed live and on demand on Parliament TV.
 
Questions the committee is likely to ask in this session include:

• Do you advocate a switch to a public sector net debt (PSND) target?
• Is the manipulation of fiscal parameters to yield ‘headroom’ justified if it is then used for investment?
• Is there a case for the UK mirroring the Federal Reserve’s treatment of quantitative easing losses? Is the Bank of England’s indemnity an optimal arrangement?
• Is the removal of the Asset Purchase Facility’s valuation losses from the debt target a viable way of separating monetary policy from the Bank’s balance sheet decisions?
• Should the Bank be asked to minimise losses on its balance sheet?