Sir Alan Budd 'quitting OBR'
Tuesday, 6 July 2010 12:00 AM
By politics.co.uk staff
The man heading the new Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) could be set to resign at the end of the month, according to a report.
Sir Alan Budd was tasked with chairing the three-man OBR, which the coalition government had given responsibility for providing independent forecasts about Britain's economy on which Treasury spending plans are based.
The OBR will be put on a statutory footing and it had been expected interim chairman Sir Alan would remain in charge until this process had been completed.
But the Telegraph newspaper reported the former chief economic adviser to the Treasury wants to return to the private sector and does not intend to renew his initial three-month contract.
The OBR, originally a prominent feature of the Liberal Democrats' general election manifesto, is now closely associated with George Osborne after the chancellor made it the centrepiece of his first major speech in power.
"The temptation to fiddle the figures... has proved too great," Mr Osborne told an audience at the Treasury on May 17th.
"I recognise this will create a rod for my back down the line... that is the whole point."
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