Philip Hammond, the newly appointed Chancellor, has been given an excuse to abandon the concept of austerity and try to address two key issues at the Autumn Statement: housing and infrastructure.
His predecessor had already announced the abandonment of a balanced budget by 2020, and Hammond can now use fiscal stimulus towards improving infrastructure and which may help sustain both consumer confidence and in the long term, corporate productivity. Theresa May appoints Hammond as Chancellor; completes cabinet shake-up If successful, such a boost could be decisive in ensuring the UK economy avoids the recession many economists have forecast, and mitigate some of the risks to corporate investment spending that have surfaced post the EU referendum. Share prices in many companies...
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