Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

The chancellor denies his infrastructure borrowing plans mirror the opposition's prior to the last election - plans the Conservative Party had criticised.  

"What the Labour Party was proposing to do is exclude investment spending from any of the fiscal rules," he says.

"We're not saying that. That money does count as part of our borrowing total. And when Theresa May and I commit to bringing our public finances to balance as early as possible in the next parliament, that will include the money invested in those projects."  

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

The Chancellor seems to skirt round a question about whether living standards will fall in the next few years due to rising inflation.

He tell Today prices are likely to rise but won't be high by historical standards.  

In response to this, we need to make sure our economy keeps growing and raise our "productivity game" so real wages go up, he says.

"In the medium to long term there is no other way of protecting our living standards, there is no other way of protecting our public services... than to have a strong and vibrant economy." 

This is why the government will borrow an extra £23bn to invest in infrastructure projects, he says. 

BBC Radio 5 live

A major part of the Chancellor's plan to boost UK productivity is a £23bn infrastructure fund to back various projects over the next five years.

Is that the right strategy?

Nick Brainsby of private equity fund Pemberton Capital says UK productivity issues stem from workers not having the right kit to be able to do the job:

"The primary reason that the UK has a lower productivity rate... which we see on the ground, is because of a combination of a lack of investment and modern production equipment in manufacturers, and secondly because of a very flexible labour market and low wage rate."

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

The UK's decision to leave the EU is not the only cause of economic uncertainty, Chancellor Philip Hammond tells Today. 

There is uncertainty about the course of policy in the US, uncertainty about the global economy, and the risk of a China slowdown, he says.  

He also denies the government is creating uncertainty about what it wants from Brexit. 

"The government's objectives are well understood... they are to achieve the greatest level of access possible to European markets so we can carry on selling our goods and services into Europe."  

However, he says the nature of a negotiation means that "no one can be certain about what the outcome of these discussions will be".

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Commenting on the veracity of the OBR's forecasts, Chancellor Philip Hammond says forecasting is not a "precise science".

The watchdog expects our national debt will reach £2tn in the 2020s, in part due to Brexit.

Mr Hammond says the OBR itself warned its predictions were subject to a high degree of uncertainty about Brexit. 

Instead, we should consider yesterday's forecast as one of a number of "possible outcomes that we need to plan for". 

Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell says we need to examine our taxation system.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, Getty Images

Philip Hammond has defended his plans to increase the national debt, saying that the UK faces "new circumstances".

He disagrees that failure to control debt is a "moral failing" - and argues the Conservatives have sought to control public spending and improve job creation.

The OBR, despite its gloomier borrowing forecasts, also forecasts we will produce 500,000 more jobs by 2021, he says.

Dominic O'Connell
Business Presenter, BBC Radio 4 Today programme

Two days after Theresa May promised the CBI a more interventionist industrial policy, one which might stop important British companies being sold to foreign rivals, along comes a deal to expose the shortcomings of such a promise.

Skyscanner, the Edinburgh-based technology company, has been sold to a Chinese rival for £1.4bn.

Skyscanner sells travel online, but it is much more than just another travel website; its technology frequently sees it cited as one of Britain’s top technology companies, and it is one of the UK’s few “unicorns” - youngish tech companies with valuations north of $1bn.

When pundits try and come up with candidates to be the “British Google”, Skyscanner is a name that frequently comes up.

It is hard to see, however, what Theresa May could have done – even once her new industrial policy is in place – to stop the sale.

Like most British tech companies, Skyscanner has a small army of investors, ranging from traditional private-equity investors to technology specialists like Sequoia Capital.

It would be hard to argue that there is some national interest in interfering to keep it in British hands, and to do so would interfere with the basic rights of investors to sell their property.

Image source, Getty Images

Pub company Marston's has reported a 7% yearly profit rise to £98m after like-for-like growth in its pubs and its acquisition of Thwaite's beer business.

Ralph Findlay, chief executive, said: "We have delivered another year of good growth across the business, with the outstanding performance of our beer company particularly encouraging."  

Image source, Getty Images

The UK's largest estate agent group has reported a fall in demand due to changes in stamp duty and uncertainty around the EU referendum.

In a trading update, Countrywide said transaction volumes in 2016 were likely to be 6% lower than in 2015, adding: "While too early to say definitively, it is likely that the level of market transactions in 2017 will be lower than 2016." 

The firm said challenging trading conditions had meant Bank of England mortgage approvals in the third quarter of 2016 were down 12% on last year.

The lettings market was also affected by the rush to beat the changes in stamp duty at the end of the first quarter, "resulting in a larger than usual supply of rental properties" and "slowing rental growth".

Total group revenue for the nine months ended 30 September 2016 was £558.7m compared with £535.7m in the same period last year. 

Image source, Getty Images

Domino's Pizza has added extra toppings to its store target after "continued strong new store performance", it says, external.

It now wants 1,600 UK stores, it says, up from its previous target of 1,200 stores.

It expects to be operating 950 stores in the UK by the end of the year.

Outside the UK, it wants to have around 400 outlets, excluding its German joint venture.

Image source, PA

Embattled baby goods retailer Mothercare has said its half year losses have deepened after like-for-like sales fell by 0.7%.

Its underlying UK loss was £8.8m, a fall of 44.3% compared with last year, it said in a statement., external

Mothercare chief executive Mark Newton-Jones said:

"The last six months have been challenging and, not withstanding our progress with our strategic pillars, our sales and margin stalled in the period. 

"There are two factors at play here - firstly the widely reported slowdown in sales across the high street due to unseasonal weather through the spring/summer season, resulting in higher markdown.

"Secondly, whilst our planned warehouse infrastructure change has been successfully completed, it did mean a reduced flow of product for eight weeks in the summer and a one off increase in operational costs as the systems bedded in."

Image source, Getty Images

Sales at model train-maker Hornby have slipped as the company continues to scale back its unprofitable European operations.

Sales for the six months ended 30 September 2016 were £21.9m compared with £22.3m in the same period last year. Its losses widened marginally from £3.4m to £3.6m.

The model maker, which also produces Scalextric, Airfix and Corgi toys,  launched a plan in June to streamline its international business and focus on core UK brands. 

It said that full year revenue from international operations would likely “fall by around a third as planned” over the course of the financial year.

It also confirmed that it would put up prices due to the weak pound.

“The group purchases goods in US dollars and sells in pounds sterling, euros and US dollars and is therefore exposed to exchange rate fluctuations. Significant fluctuations in exchange rates, particularly following the Brexit vote in June, could have a material effect on the group's future results,” it said.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

The Chancellor is right to borrow more to invest in infrastructure as a way of boosting productivity, Mohamed El-Erian of Allianz Global Investors says.

“The social returns of those investments tend to be quite high,” he tells Today. 

He says there is an infrastructure deficit in many western economies because countries “fell in love with the wrong model of growth” about a decade ago.

Many chose to rely on finance as opposed to investing in infrastructure, tax reform and education – and “now we have to play catch-up”, he says.

Image source, AP

Stocks in Tokyo rose on Thursday, as the continuing fall of the yen pushed up the share price of exporters.

The Nikkei 225 index had added 1% by mid-afternoon trading.

A weakening currency helps companies selling abroad see better profits when their income is converted to the Japanese currency.

Image source, Getty Images

Car production in Britain slowed last month for the first time in more than a year, driven by slower domestic demand, according to a trade group. 

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said overall output fell 1% year-on-year to 151,795 units in October - although total 2016 volumes are still set to beat last year's high. 

Export demand rose marginally during the month, but there was a 10.9% drop in the output destined for British buyers. According to Reuters, , externalwhile corporate car sales are increasing, those to individuals have fallen since the summer’s Brexit vote.  

SMMT chief Mike Hawes said the data showed the UK needed to remain open to trade with Europe.

"It is crucial that British-built cars remain attractive to international buyers and exports are not subject to additional tariffs, costs and other barriers to successful trade," he said.

Image source, Getty Images

A new Conservative government is saying they will borrow more and invest more in infrastructure. Is this a tacit admission that the previous Conservative government's austerity policies were wrong, Former Chancellor Lord Lamont is asked? No, he says.

"You have to bear in mind this distinction between the annual deficit and the total indebtedness of the country. The deficit has been coming down year by year by year, and it is now 3.5%, which is the lowest level for two decades. But although that deficit is much reduced, the fact that there still is a deficit is obviously adding to debt. Next year, debt will go up, debt has been going up even while the deficit has been being reduced... Total, historic debt will go up next year, but thereafter it will fall. All this just illustrates how this is like trying to turn a tanker around, it's an immense task, and it does take a long time," he says.

Simon Atkinson
Asia Business Reporter

Image source, Reuters

While neither side is confirming it, lots of reports around today that AirBnB is in talks to buy Xiaozhu - China's second biggest accommodation sharing service.

So far Airbnb's China focus has been on persuading Chinese outbound travellers to book places to stay around the world through them (in a blog in June, external, the firm said it had seen a 500% increase in Chinese users in the past year).

The US firm does list Chinese properties to rent (about 75,000 of them), but a deal with Xiaozhu would give it much bigger access.

And I wonder whether Airbnb is learning a lesson from that other sharing economy success story Uber. Remember it went into China on its own to try and take on local players and burned through a lot of money before realising it was not going to be able to get the scale it needed and admitting defeat, eventually selling out to its local rival Didi Chuxing.

Simon Atkinson
Asia Business Reporter

If you've ever used Skyscanner to compare prices on flights and hotels, you might feel like it has saved you a few quid, dollars or euros.

But the boost to your bank balance will be dwarfed by the payday its founders and investors are set to enjoy. 

The Edinburgh-based company, which now has offices in 10 countries serving about 60 million users a month, has agreed to be bought by China's online travel giant Ctrip for a cool £1.4bn ($1.75bn).

Image source, Skyscanner/ BBC

UK-based travel search business Skyscanner has been bought by Ctrip, China's biggest online travel firm.

The deal values Skyscanner at about £1.4bn ($1.75bn).

The firm, which has its headquarters in Edinburgh, is available in more than 30 languages, with about 60 million monthly active users.

It was set up to let users compare prices from different travel sites when searching for flights, hotels, and rental cars.

Read more.