The OBR has issued a stark warning on spending
An ageing UK population will put "unsustainable" pressure on public finances unless some £19bn of spending cuts or tax rises are introduced, says the Office for Budget Responsibility.
"Population ageing will put upward pressure on public spending," it said.
The OBR said these additional savings would be needed in the year to April 2019, on top of the already-announced £153bn in austerity measures.
The forecaster made the warning in its latest fiscal sustainability report.
It warned that if no action was taken, the cost of an increasingly-elderly population and the provision of pensions and healthcare would erase the impact of much of Chancellor George Osborne's spending cuts,
"It is clear that longer-term spending pressures, if unaddressed, would put the public finances on an unsustainable path." the report says.
It added that if nothing was done to address these "demographic pressures" then it would create a "structural deterioration", or financial hole, equivalent to £65bn in today's terms.
The OBR also said the introduction of a single-tier state pension slightly reduced the burden on public sector debt, but added that spending on healthcare would be the biggest fiscal pressure over the next five decades.
Source: BBC News - Business http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23343111#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
