ChinaVirtuoso

BRITAIN slashed its growth forecasts for its Brexit-bound economy and expects to borrow sharply more going into the next decade, finance minister Philip Hammond said yesterday as he delivered a gloomy budget statement in parliament.

Slower economic growth will mean lower tax revenues, giving Hammond little room for the bold moves that many in his Conservative Party — still smarting from an election mauling in June — are demanding to help households after years of cuts in public spending.

Hammond said he was taking a balanced approach to steering Britain’s economy through the next few years when it will face the challenge of leaving the European Union.

“We understand the frustration of families where real incomes are under pressure,” he said, acknowledging high inflation and weak wage growth. He pointed to forecasts that unemployment will continue to fall.

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