Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown promised once again that his self-imposed golden rule will remain intact through out his tenure at the Treasury "We will meet golden rule irrespective," Brown said, in his testimony before the parliamentary Treasury Select Committee The golden rule calls for a balanced budget, excluding investment, across the economic cycle. It only allows the government to borrow for the purpose of investment Just when the economic cycle ends has not been a certainty. Brown now believes the cycle started in 1997 but that it has not ended. Previous assumptions had put the start of the cycle at 1999.