–Further Decisions On Cuts Will Become ‘Increasingly Difficult’
–Sees Risk Of Contagion Spreading To Countries Unaffacted So Far
–Says Aim Of Govt Is To Keep Rates Low And Assure Recovery
LONDON (MNI) – UK Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws
reiterated today that the government has only taken the “first steps”
towards cutting the UK’s budget deficit.
Laws warned that further decisions on cutting the deficit would be
“increasingly difficult”.
But in the first debate in the House of Commons on the government’s
plans to cut a further stg6bn from departmental spending this fiscal
year, Laws attacked the opposition Labour party, saying that they had
left a situation where there was ‘no money left’.
The announced plan showed that they had the “guts and
determination” to tackle the deficit.
Laws also charged the opposition again with having pursued a
“scorched earth” policy on the budget in the months before the election
and said that the new government was looking into these decisions and
would make public further details in due course.
Laws also said that the latest developments in financial markets
across Europe showed that there was a real risk of contagion even for
countries so far “unaffected” by the crisis.
There had been a real risk of a big rise in interest rates if the
government had not taken the immediate action on the budget which it
did.
–London newsroom: 4420 7862 7492 email: ukeditorial@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: MABDS$,M$B$$$,MT$$$$]
