Britain will need millions more immigrants to cope with an ageing population, the official economic watchdog warned today.
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The Office for Budget Responsibility said that opening the doors to an extra 140,000 every year for five decades would boost employment and bolster the public finances.
It also warned that pressure on the UK’s healthcare system caring for older people means an extra £19 billion of spending cuts or tax hikes will be needed.
Urgent action is needed or the gains made by George Osborne’s spending cuts will be wiped out by increased spending on the elderly, the OBR said.
The OBR argues that allowing 140,000 immigrants of working age into Britain each year – totalling 7million over 50 years – would fill jobs and raise taxes for Treasury coffers.
It said that if there is a steady flow of immigrants into Britain, government borrowing would rise to 99 per cent of GDP.
But if there is a bar on immigration, borrowing would hit 174 per cent.
‘These results are driven by the assumed age structure of net migration, which tends to be more concentrated in the working age group and hence reduces the dependency ratio throughout the projection period.’
However, David Cameron has pledged to reduce net migration to the ‘tens of thousands’ and last year the number of immigrants fell by 89,000 to 153,00.
Without action to address the burden of an ageing population, the UK will be left with a £65 billion hole in its finances, according to the OBR.
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