in 2018 the office for budget responsibility (obr) predicted that in 2018–19 public sector debt would fall as a share of national income for the first time since 2001–02, while tax revenues would exceed public spending. hammond's 2018 spring statement suggested that austerity measures could be reduced in the autumn budget of that year. however, according to the resolution foundation and the institute for fiscal studies (ifs), the obr's forecasts for borrowing and debt were based on the assumption that the government continued with the planned spending reductions that were announced after the 2015 general election. by 2018 only 25% of the proposed reductions in welfare spending had been implemented. the resolution foundation calculated that the proposed reduction in spending on working-age benefits amounted to £2.5 billion in 2018–19 and £2.7 billion in 2019–20, with the households most affected being the poorest 20%. the ifs calculated that the obr's figures would require spending on public services per person in real terms to be 2% lower in 2022–23 than in 2019–20.