London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, May 09, 2025

Britain's economy is back, says chancellor

Britain's economy is back, says chancellor

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says Britain's economy is "back", and that his strategy for growth has been welcomed at the International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington.
His predecessor, Kwasi Kwarteng, left the previous IMF meeting in October early, amid a barrage of criticism.

Mr Hunt said the international lending body saw he was "putting the British economy back on the right track".

However, the latest figures show the UK economy failed to grow in February.

On Wednesday, the IMF said it expected the UK economy to shrink by 0.3% in 2023, which would make it one of the worst performing of the world's major economies.

When challenged over whether the UK's current performance undermined his positive message, Mr Hunt said: "It's other finance ministers who are telling me Britain is back".

Britain's economy has only just recovered to the size it was prior to the pandemic, following months of industrial action, rapidly rising prices and labour shortages.

On Friday nurses in the RCN union rejected the offer of a 5% pay rise and said they planned to strike again at the start of May. Meanwhile, NHS junior doctors in England are currently staging a four-day walkout over pay, ending at 07:00 on Saturday.

The wave of industrial action affecting the UK in recent months has contributed to its lack of growth, the Office of National Statistics said this week.

However, Mr Hunt said it was important to avoid fuelling further inflation through pay rises. He said Britain had avoided recession this year "so far", and that he hoped to see faster growth and falling inflation in the months ahead.

Measures in his March Budget to help businesses recruit more staff and to increase investment, including an increase in childcare funding, should stimulate growth, he added.

Investor confidence in the UK was shaken last year during the short-lived government of prime minister Liz Truss, which saw Mr Kwarteng present an economic strategy that included major tax cuts without an explanation of how they would be funded.

The outlook for the UK, which relies heavily on financial services, could be clouded by current uncertainty in the banking sector, following the collapse of three US banks and UBS's emergency takeover of Credit Suisse.

However, Mr Hunt said the UK had "a very robust, resilient banking system", which was now in a much better position than it was before the 2008 financial crisis.

"Am I confident in the resilience of our banking system, the second largest financial services centre in the world?' Yes, I am," he said.

While the government is considering reforming some of the rules governing financial services, put in place after 2008, Mr Hunt said the plan was "absolutely not to unlearn the lessons of the financial crisis".

"We are looking at all of these things, but we're not going to do it in a way that rows back on any of the very important protections that we have in place," he said.

But he said the growth of the UK's tech and life sciences industries meant regulations needed to adapt.

"We have a lot of high growth companies in the UK, and they need to have banking services that suit their needs. And that's a difference from a decade ago," he said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Historic Papal Conclave Set to Commence in Rome
Huge Copper, Gold, and Silver Discovery in Argentina and Chile — But the Profits Go Abroad
Prince Harry is pleading for reconciliation — but the royals are just as sick of his victimhood as everyone else
The Road to Freedom: She Protested Putin, Escaped House Arrest, and Survived a 2,800-Kilometer Journey
OpenAI's Flip-Flop: No Longer Going Commercial, Back to Nonprofit, After Musk Lawsuit and Backlash
“Trump Supporter” Aims to Bring a MAGA-Style Shift to Romania
First From China: Zhao Xintong Wins the Snooker World Championship
Nvidia Faces Billion-Dollar Losses – Warns: China Is on Its Way to Becoming an AI Superpower
Trump Rules Out Third Term, Names JD Vance and Marco Rubio as Potential Successors
Mexico Says ‘No’ to U.S. Troops: President Sheinbaum Rejects Trump’s Offer to Fight Cartels
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Storms the Map, Wrecking the Two-Party Monopoly
DOGE: Reimagining Government Operations with AI
Common Sense Returns to Britain's Legal System: UK Supreme Court Declares a Woman Is… a Woman
Beijing Says U.S. Is ‘Reaching Out’ for Tariff Talks Amid Soaring Trade Tensions
U.K. Court Rejects Prince Harry’s Final Appeal Over Police Security
Prince Harry’s Heartfelt Outburst Rocks the Royal Family
Trump Shares AI-Generated Image of Himself as… Pope, Prompting Outrage Reaction
Transgender Swimmer Secures Five Gold Medals at U.S. Masters Championship
Prince Harry: “I Want Reconciliation with My Family”
Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has now been officially labeled “right-wing extremist” by the federal office for the so-called “protection of the constitution.”
Amazon Launches Satellite Internet Service Amidst Competition with SpaceX
Transformative Changes in Women's Wrestling: The Rise of WWE Superstars
The Rush to the White Gold: Global Investment Surge in Natural Hydrogen Exploration
This is a day in Spain without electricity and internet
Reform UK Surprises in British Elections, Challenging Traditional Two-Party System
180-Year-Old Christian University in South Carolina Announces Closure Due to Unmet $6 Million Fundraising Goal
Brazilian Woman Jailed for Fourteen Years for Writing “You Lost, Idiot” on Statue During Protest
Trump Administration Removes National Security Adviser Mike Waltz Amid Signal Chat Controversy
Dutch Politician Eva Vlaardingerbroek Receives Spyware Threat Alert from Apple
Paramount Board Considers Settlement in Trump’s $20 Billion Lawsuit Over "60 Minutes" Interview
U.S. Economy Shrink in Trump’s First Quarter as Tariff Policy Raises Questions
Deadline Looms for RTS Meter Replacement: Hundreds of Thousands at Risk of Heating Disruption
Sweden Grapples with Deadly Gun Violence: Suspect Arrested After Three Young Men Killed in Uppsala Hair Salon
Walz Reveals Why Harris Chose Him as Her Running Mate and Reflects on Democratic Losses
Spain Restores Power After Unprecedented Nationwide Blackout
Carney Secures Liberal Mandate in Canada’s Federal Election
Death Penalty Sought as Luigi Manion Pleads Not Guilty in CEO Murder Case
President Trump contacts Jeff Bezos after reports of Amazon considering listing tariff surcharges; company clarifies no such plan for main platform
Spain and Portugal Recover from Massive Blackout
Liverpool Clinches Record-Equalling 20th English League Title Under Arne Slot
Singapore Politicians Warn Against Foreign Interference in Election
Driver Ploughs into Vancouver Festival Crowd, Killing Nine
Depression, Fear of Defamation, and a Tragic End: New Details on Virginia Giuffre’s Suicide
“Sharia for UK, Allah Akbar!”
Massive Explosion at Iran's Bandar Abbas Port Linked to Suspicious Chemical Shipments
Incident Reflection: A Harsh Reality Check
Pakistani migrants to Danish man: “ “We have 5 children while you have 1 or 2. In 10 years, there will be more Pakistanis than Danes here.“
Clashes Erupt in London as Tensions Rise Between Indian and Pakistani Communities
Specialized anti-drone weapons deployed among security personnel Ahead of Papal Funeral
How do you fix this culture?
×