UK finance minister nominates new member for budget committee

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s finance minister Jeremy Hunt on Monday said he had nominated Tom Josephs to the Budget Responsibility Committee (BRC) at the government’s budget watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

The OBR provides the economic and fiscal forecasts that underpin government budgets and passes judgement on how likely the government is to achieve its fiscal targets.

Josephs will replace outgoing OBR board member Andy King, who is stepping down on Aug. 31, if the nomination is approved by parliament’s Treasury Committee following a hearing in September.

“Tom brings world-class expertise in the UK’s public finances alongside considerable experience leading economic and fiscal analysis in a range of domestic and international roles,” Hunt said.

Josephs is currently Director of Private Pensions at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and has previously worked at the finance ministry and the OBR.

Josephs said he was “delighted” to be nominated having worked at the OBR from 2010 to 2013 as part of the team that established the agency.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout and William Schomberg)

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