Osborne: UK faces serious threats from slowing global economy
British Finance Minister George Osborne has called for strict public spending warning that the country’s economy faces new threats amid the global market turmoil.
“A dangerous cocktail of new threats” was how Osborne painted the current year. "We are only seven days into the New Year, and already we've had worrying news about stock market falls around the world, the slowdown in China, deep problems in Brazil and in Russia," Osborne will tell business leaders in Wales.
Osborne who took over as the chancellor of exchequer in 2010 and is projected as a possible successor to Prime Minister David Cameron has been harshly criticized for his austerity policies which he claims are necessary to cut Britain's budget deficit.
Britain managed to come out of the 2008 economic meltdown but Osborne warns of a "creeping complacency" that the economy is "immune from the risks abroad". Osborne will say this year is likely to be one of the toughest since the financial crisis.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4, he cited continuing drop in oil prices amid other market factors as reasons to continue "fixing public finances". His message was in stark contrast to his autumn statement, when he said the country's economy was "growing fast".
“The whole purpose of the autumn statement – and indeed the budget that came just before it – was to put in place a four-year plan to restore our public finances to health, to make our economy more productive, to make businesses more competitive so they can create jobs” the chancellor said.
“It was precisely because we live in an uncertain world, because we have not abolished boom and bust as a nation, that you need to take these difficult steps and I need to go on explaining to the public that the difficult times aren’t over and we’ve got to go on making difficult decisions so Britain can continue to enjoy the low unemployment and rising wages we see at the moment,” Osborne added.
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