UK Budget

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:07 pm on 14 February 2023.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 2:07, 14 February 2023

Well, I wish I had your confidence that the Prime Minister and his Chancellor will be addressing their priorities in the spring budget. I know that the Minister for finance obviously discussed what was upcoming; I don't think she got very far with much information about what was going to be upcoming in the spring budget. What's really important is that we get our fair share of funding, and we've seen a significant decrease in our budget, particularly our capital budget, over the past few years. But obviously, investing in skills is very important for the jobs, going forward, and we know how quickly different jobs come long, and making sure that we have people with those skills.

Again, around the forecast of the economy, you'll remember that, just a couple of weeks ago, the International Monetary Fund forecasted that the UK will be the only major economy to shrink into 2023, with a falling GDP of 0.6 per cent, so I'm afraid I really don't share your confidence.