Efficiency savings alone will not curb deficit, says IFS

Efficiency savings cannot be relied upon to cut Britain's record deficit, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said yesterday, contradicting a central plank of Alistair Darling's Budget.

The chancellor yesterday counted £11bn of annual efficiency cuts in his plan to cut the deficit by £78bn by 2013-14, but the independent IFS said such a calculation was bogus.

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