George Osborne's law: a pledge to balance the books While the Treasury said this was in line with Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts, economists are sceptical as to whether Mr Osborne can meet his timetable for balancing the books through spending cuts. That is in part because despite the recovery, income tax receipts have been far lower than expected, as wages growth remains low. That makes it far harder to deliver the promised tax cuts, including lifting the 40p rate of tax threshold to £50,000, as outlined by the Prime Minister at the Tories" autumn conference. However, the Chancellor received a pre-statement boost yesterday as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development announced Britain can expect to see a strong pace of growth until 2016. Expansion will be driven by private investment and consumption the think tank said - while the Eurozone faces persistent stagnation.