The chair of the United Kingdom's independent fiscal authority resigned on Monday, following a significant error that saw the premature publication of economic forecasts just before last week's Autumn Budget.
Richard Hughes tendered his resignation as chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) after financial markets closed. His departure comes in direct response to the accidental early release of the agency's crucial Economic and Fiscal Outlook report last Wednesday.
The OBR published its detailed analysis of the budget's measures approximately 40 minutes before Chancellor Rachel Reeves was scheduled to begin her statement to Parliament. The inadvertent release triggered immediate volatility, causing yields on British government bonds to seesaw as traders reacted to the unplanned data dump.
In a formal resignation letter addressed to Chancellor Reeves and Dame Meg Hillier, the chair of Parliament's Treasury Select Committee, Hughes characterized the mistake as a "technical but serious error." He stated that the OBR has already provided a full report to both the Treasury and the House of Commons Treasury Committee.
This report, Hughes noted, details the cause of the premature dissemination and "identifies the further actions the Office will take to ensure that it never happens again."
Explaining his decision to step down, Hughes wrote that resigning was "in the best interest of the OBR" to allow the institution to "quickly move on from this regrettable incident." He expressed confidence that, "by implementing the recommendations in this report, the OBR can quickly regain and restore the confidence and esteem that it has earned through 15 years of rigorous, independent, economic analysis."
Hughes had led the watchdog since October 2020.
In her response, Chancellor Rachel Reeves thanked Hughes for his service. "I thank Richard Hughes for his public service and for leading the Office for Budget Responsibility over the past five years and for his many years of public service," she said.
Reeves also reaffirmed the government's stance on the watchdog's role, adding: "This government is committed to protecting the independence of the OBR and the integrity of our fiscal framework and institutions."
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Source: CNBC
