[Crimson Dynamo]

The Chancellor, George Osborne, has outlined the government's plans to "balance the books" by 2016.

Mr Osborne said the government planned to cut the structural budget deficit to zero in the next six years.

The structural deficit represents the hole in the public finances that is not expected to be repaired by economic recovery.

The chancellor also said he expected the UK's total debt levels to have started falling by 2016.

But he added that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was forecasting that the government would meet these targets a year early, by 2015.
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George Osborne on growth forecast

The OBR, headed by economist Sir Alan Budd, was set up to provide an independent assessment of the state of the UK's public finances and the UK economy.

Total borrowing is expected to fall to 2.1% of GDP by 2015, the OBR said, and reach 1.1% by 2016.

Current borrowing stands at £155bn - 11% of GDP.

The UK's total debt, which currently stands at more than 62% of GDP, is forecast to peak at 70% of GDP in 2013-14, before falling to 67% by 2015-16.

Announcing the plan, Mr Osborne said the Budget "deals decisively with this country's record debts".
Slower growth

Although confirming that the government's target for deficit reduction was achievable, the OBR warned that the economy would suffer as a result.

It is now forecasting that the UK economy will grow by 1.2% this year and 2.3% in 2011, lower than the previous government's forecasts.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10375236