The UK economy is getting “on the right track”, claim Rishi Sunak ahead of what could be his government’s annual Budget before the general election.
The Prime Minister, who spoke as the Chancellor prepared for Wednesday, is widely expected to announce tax cuts, but he cautioned that it would have to be a “prudent and responsible” budget 2024.
Downing Street denied that Mr Sunak thought Jeremy Hunt “is pessimistic”.
Britain fell into recession last year and there is less room for happiness in the budget.
Visiting the site of a former Honda car factory in Swindon, Mr Sunak said its transformation into a logistics hub by industrial property developer Panattoni was “a huge vote of confidence in the UK”.
Sunak said “this shows that the work we are doing to get the economy back on track is bearing fruit”.
“Now, as Prime Minister, I am committed to ensuring Britain is the best place in the world to invest and grow such businesses,” he said, referring to the investment package announced by the government to boost spending. Best place.” Companies working on cutting-edge technologies and manufacturing.
But experts have cast doubt on how much help Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt’s budget on Wednesday will provide to households and businesses.
The government’s independent economic forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), had previously estimated that the Chancellor would have “headroom” of around £30 billion. This is under fiscal rules set by the Tory government to meet a self-imposed target of debt as a percentage of national income in five years’ time.
But since then, borrowing costs have risen and Mr Hunt admitted at the weekend that his forecast of available headroom “went against us”.
Also,official figures have confirmed that the UK economy slipped into recession late last year.
On the other hand, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has suggested that the country’s recession is already over, with tax rates remaining at historic highs and many households struggling with higher mortgage costs as they withdraw from their fixed rate deals. Coming to renew.
However, there are also reports that Mr Hunt is facing pressure from within his own party to give gifts in the pre-election budget on Wednesday.
On Monday, the Chancellor expressed his hope to move towards a “low-tax economy”, but ruled out borrowing to pay for cuts, in a “responsible” way.
The Chancellor is expected to announce tax cuts but as of now it is not clear whether he will cut National Insurance again or cut income tax.
Meanwhile in London, the Prime Minister’s Office in Downing Street had to deny reports over the weekend that Mr Sunak was frustrated with Mr Hunt and considered him “cowardly”.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Both the Chancellor and the Prime Minister are working closely together to deliver our plan for the economy and obviously the Chancellor will try to deliver further measures in line with this in the Budget on Wednesday.”