Pre-Budget Report

We believe that now is an important time to use fiscal policy, as do other countries. In Europe, where major countries' debt levels are higher than ours, fiscal action is being supported. The President of the European Commission said just this morning that he is supporting a £160 billion economic recovery package across Europe. In America, for Republicans and Democrats alike, their debt is higher than ours and their borrowing is higher than ours. Yesterday, President-elect Obama announced a fiscal boost of more than 3 per cent. for the American economy, when he said:"““The consensus is this, that we have do whatever it takes to get this economy moving again””." Germany, Spain, the US, Australia, Japan, China and other countries across the world are all introducing fiscal boosts for their economies because they know that there is too much at stake for Governments to stand back and allow the recession to take its course. They all know that the nature of the shocks to the financial system, alongside falling inflation, means that monetary policy is not enough. Even the International Monetary Fund has said—[Interruption.]