LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Liz Truss said her government needed to review tax rates and take difficult decisions to stimulate economic growth, speaking to broadcasters during a trip to New York on Tuesday.
Truss, who took office earlier this month but following the death of Queen Elizabeth has had little opportunity to flesh out her vision for the country, said she was prepared to be take unpopular decisions.
“We do have to take difficult decisions to get our economy growing,” she told the BBC, citing her decision to spend an unspecified amount of public money on a package to shield businesses and consumer from soaring energy costs.
“We have to look at our tax rates – so corporation tax needs to be competitive with other countries so that we can attract that investment.”
Asked by Sky News in a separate interview if she was prepared to be unpopular over her policies, she said: “Yes, yes, I am. What is important to me is that we grow the British economy.”
About the fall in the value of sterling, which is hovering barely above its lowest level since 1985, ahead of expected interest rate hikes from the Bank of England and Federal Reserve, Truss said:
“My belief is that Britain’s economic fundamentals are strong. We have relatively low debt compared to the rest of the G7, we have strong employment – although we do need to help more people who are currently economically inactive go into work – we have a great enterprise culture.”
Finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng is due to make a fiscal statement on the government’s tax and spending plans on Friday.
“What the chancellor (Kwarteng) will be outlining on Friday is his approach showing that we are fiscally responsible, we’re going to carry out our policies in a fiscally responsible way,” she said.
(Reporting by Muvija M, writing by William James; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)
