LONDON (UK) – Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said he would not attempt to fix the public finances overnight, days before the budget plan is unveiled. It is expected to pile more borrowing on top of 300 billion pounds ($418 billion) of pandemic spending and tax slashes.
“Look, this is not something that’s going to happen overnight. Given the scale of the shock we’ve experienced, the scale of the damage, this is going to take time to fix,” the minister told Sky News on Sunday.
“But it’s important … to also have strong public finances over time.”
He refused to comment on specific moves before delivering his budget on Wednesday.
He also did not reveal if he would stick to the promise of his Conservative Party from 2019 not to hike income tax, value-added tax or national insurance contributions, the biggest sources of tax revenue.
He told Sky News he wanted to ensure the nation was prepared for economic shocks in the future and noted a recent spurt in the cost of borrowing as financial markets around the world price in higher inflation from the global stimulus drive.
“You talked about interest rates and you’re right interest rates have been at very low levels, which does allow us to afford slightly higher debt levels,” the minister said.
“But that can always change and we’re seeing that in the last few weeks,” he said. “We have to be acute to that possibility.”
