Treasury Minister Allan Bell has given his initial assessment of today's United Kingdom budget, and he says it's "pretty depressing".
He says UK Chancellor Alistair Darling has confirmed the fairly parlous state of the UK economy and the government's finances, which is dramatically different from the assessment he gave as recently as last November (play extended audio file):
Mr Bell and his colleagues at the Treasury will study the fine print of the UK budget over the coming days.
He says they are particularly keen to assess the implications of what look like some pretty strong anti-tax avoidance measures.
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