LONDON (UK) – British finance minister Rishi Sunak said there would be no going back to austerity. He said he will announce “quite a significant” increase in funding for public services in a one-year spending plan on Wednesday.
Sunak told Sky News television on Sunday. “You will not see austerity next week. What you will see is an increase in the government’s spending on day-to-day public services, and quite a significant one, coming on the increase that we had last year.”
Sunak will declare the heaviest public borrowing since World War Two. This has come a few days after Britain suffered the biggest economic crash in over 300 years.
Sunak told Sky that the forecasts to be published alongside his spending blueprint would show the “enormous strain” that coronavirus has imposed on the economy.
Sunak said it was reasonable to look at state salaries in the context of the broader economy. “When we think about public pay settlements, I think it would be entirely reasonable to think about those in the context of the wider economic climate,” he said.
Sunak declined to answer questions on possible tax increases saying he would not be talking now about future budget decisions.
