The IFS gives its Budget verdict

The Institute for Fiscal Studies’ briefing is always a good place to pick up a few interesting nuggets of detail about the Budget — and this year’s is no exception. Here are five of the most striking points from their presentation this morning:

1. Beyond the next election. In November, Osborne caused a stir by announcing that — in order to meet his fiscal target — further spending cuts would be needed after 2015. Annex A of the Budget gives some more detail on this, and the IFS has crunched the numbers even further. They calculate that the fiscal consolidation from 2009-10 to 2016-17 will total £123 billion and that the overall ratio of spending cuts to tax rises will be 83:17.

But where will those extra spending cuts come from? If there are to be no further departmental cuts after the 2010 Spending Review, the IFS says we would need to cut welfare spending by £20 billion.