Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit Andrew Griffith is seen outside Downing Street in London, Britain, February 4, 2022. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File Photo
Britain is not facing a recession at the moment, but there is more work to do to see its economy grow at a significantly higher rate and combat inflation, UK Treasury Economic Secretary Andrew Griffith said in New York on Wednesday.
Griffith told the Reuters NEXT conference that Britain’s biggest focus was to continue driving down inflation and that clearly involved choices.
Asked whether Britain was headed for a recession, Griffith said: “That’s not where the UK is. There’s more work to do, don’t get me wrong. The point is to grow at a significantly higher rate than the UK has grown.”
He said Britain was one of the fastest growing Group of Seven (G7) economies in Europe, calling that a “good start.”
He said Britain’s objective was to halve inflation this year, and forecasts showed it was on track to do that.
“We’re now in November, so we’ll see how the next few weeks and months go,” he said
He said he was concerned about the geopolitical challenges and human tragedy occurring in the Middle East, and he said Britain was using its voice in the United Nations to “look for containment and restraint.”
Griffith’s underscored his government’s commitment to a dynamic low-tax economy with high-quality public services, but said the higher priority at the moment was to reduce inflation, bolster growth and see debt falling over time.
“You’ve got to follow that through and that’s not comfortable, and sometimes the political and economic cycles are not perfectly aligned,” he said. “You’ve got to, above all, elevate the duty to the UK people, and at the moment, that’s helping with the cost of living and reducing prices.”
Reporting by Jane Wardell;
Writing by Dan Burns and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Chris Reese and Daniel Wallis
