UK finance minister sees fiscal headroom at 15 billion pounds

Britain's government will have a smaller buffer to meet its fiscal targets by the end of the decade, finance minister John Healey said in his first budget speech on Wednesday, citing forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility. The government's tax revenues were expected to be 15 billion pounds ($20 billion) higher than day-to-day spending in the 2029/30 fiscal year, Healey said. At the time of former finance minister Rachel Reeves' budget update in March, the OBR estimated the government had 24 billion pounds of so-called fiscal headroom. A Reuters poll of bond dealers earlier this month pointed to 15 billion pounds of headroom as higher borrowing costs weighed on the government's spending. He said the government will meet its fiscal targets.