(Bloomberg) -- Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch questioned the accuracy of economic forecasts produced by the UK’s independent fiscal watchdog, weeks before the government is due to announce a package of tax rises and spending cuts meant to reassure markets about the state of the country’s finances.

Badenoch, who worked in the Treasury for 18 months until September 2021, told Bloomberg Radio on Tuesday she disputes the Office for Budget Responsibility’s view that leaving the European Union will hurt UK trade in the long term, adding that she remembers “pretty much every previous OBR forecast never being quite right.”

Though her comments were focused on Brexit and trade, they risk rekindling a row that embroiled former premier Liz Truss’s administration over her economic policy and the credibility of forecasters. Her government announced a massive package of tax cuts without an OBR forecast, roiling financial markets.

As Truss’s government tried to restore calm, then Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg fanned the flames by criticizing the OBR, memorably telling ITV: “There are other sources of information.” 

Badenoch’s intervention also comes at a sensitive time for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt as they seek to fill a fiscal shortfall of £35 billion ($40 billion) in an announcement on Nov. 17. 

Their plan will be published alongside a forecast from the OBR, with the watchdog’s verdict regarded as being crucial for avoiding a return of the recent market turmoil.

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Asked about the OBR’s March forecast that UK trade would be 15% lower in the long-term due to Brexit, Badenoch said the watchdog based its figures on previous government policy rather than how ministers would act in future: “The OBR has a view, we have a different view and we’ll keep working to find out exactly how to get the best in terms of investment into the UK.”

The government will work “in partnership with the OBR to get good forecasting,” Badenoch said, adding that “we respect the institutions and we work well with them.”

--With assistance from Alex Wickham.

(Updates with Badenoch time in Treasury in second paragraph, further comment from penultimate)

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