Britain’s new finance minister, Rachel Reeves, is due to vow on Monday to take “tough decisions” to boost economic growth, including fast-track reforms to remove bottlenecks in infrastructure and private investment, in her first major speech since Labour took power last week.
“Last week, the British people voted for change and over the past 72 hours I have set out the work necessary to deliver on that mission,” she will say in an address to business leaders, according to excerpts released by the Treasury.
“Where governments have hesitated to make the tough decisions to deliver growth or have been too slow to act, I will do just that.”
Ms Reeves, Britain’s first female finance minister, needs to improve growth to pay for increased spending on public services without increasing the main tax paid by workers.
She has already ruled out increased borrowing for day-to-day spending, saying that by the fifth year in any projections, debt must fall as a share of the economy.
The task has not been made any easier by the fact that a new government has taken over from the Conservatives.
Living standards have stagnated since 2010, public debt is at almost 100 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and tax revenue as a percentage of GDP is set to rise to its highest level since just after World War II.
The Treasury said Reeves will use his speech to outline the first steps his new government will take to put the economy back on its feet. The new chancellor, Keir Starmer, has already pledged to use his overwhelming majority in Parliament to rebuild the country.
Published July 8, 2024 02:52 IST
