UK’s Sunak to warn cost of living crisis won’t be easy to fix
2022.05.18 19:50
FILE PHOTO: Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak hosts a news conference in the Downing Street Briefing Room in London, Britain February 3, 2022. Justin Tallis/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) -British finance minister Rishi Sunak will warn on Wednesday that fixing the rising cost of living for families will not be easy in a speech to business leaders urging them to boost investment, staff training and innovation.
British inflation surged last month to its highest annual rate since 1982, with consumer price inflation hitting 9% in April. That has heaped pressure on Sunak to do more to help those struggling to pay rising food, fuel and energy bills.
“Our role in government is to cut costs for families. I cannot pretend this will be easy,” Sunak will say at a Confederation of British Industry dinner, according to extracts of his speech released in advance.
“There is no measure any government could take, no law we could pass, that can make these global forces disappear overnight. The next few months will be tough.”
He will reiterate a promise made in March to cut business taxes later this year and encourage employers to do their bit to ease the economic pain for households by keeping up investment and innovation spending.
“We need you to invest more, train more, and innovate more. In the Autumn Budget we will cut your taxes to encourage you to do all those things,” he will say.
“That is the path to higher productivity, higher living standards, and a more prosperous and secure future.”
