Sunak planning £50bn of spending cuts, tax rises - report
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is reportedly looking to build a buffer in the public finances as he draws up an economic plan to plug Britain’s budget shortfall, which could entail tax rises and spending cuts of up to £50bn.
Bloomberg on Friday cited an official familiar with the matter as saying that Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt want the extra headroom over and above the UK’s £35bn fiscal hole so that the package has credibility with the markets.
Another source told Bloomberg that could entail spending cuts and tax rises closer to £50bn, a figure widely reported in the British media on Friday.
Sunak, who became PM earlier this week, is trying to restore calm to the financial markets after his predecessor, Liz Truss, sparked turmoil during her seven-week tenure with a massive package of unfunded tax cuts that tanked the pound and gilt markets.
On Wednesday, it emerged that Sunak and Hunt had pushed back a planned economic statement from 31 October to 17 November to give them more time to make what the PM described as the "right decisions" to manage the British economy.