Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Bilimoria (Crossbench). It was answered on Wednesday, 4 June 2008.

Economy: ““Boom and Bust””

Question: My Lords, the Chancellor’s former statement—we are talking about ““no more boom and bust””—could arguably today be rephrased as ““boom, then bust””. Does the Minister believe in economic cycles? What proportion of our economic predicament today does he believe is on account of global conditions? What plans do the Government have to prevent a recession?

Answer: My Lords, I think the House recognises that in no period under this Administration has there not been economic growth; nor are there forecasts of any period when we will not have economic growth. We have reduced our growth forecasts below what they were three or four years ago, because we recognise that world economic circumstances and the credit crunch adversely affect our economy, but reduced economic growth is a world away from bust.

Secondary information