Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to reveal her budget next month.
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves has insisted there is “no recession” on the horizon, despite dire economic warnings from Bank of England and IMF.
Last week, a Bank of England rate-setter warned the UK risks heading into a recession that will be “difficult to contain” if interest rates are kept on hold into next year.
Similarly, the IMF warned living standards are poised to improve at the slowest rate in the G7.
The gloomy news put more pressure on the Chancellor over the nation’s public finances just weeks before her budget.
Reeves is expected to announce a blitz of tax increases and cuts to spending at the budget next month.
Public sector borrowing increased to more than £20 billion last month – the highest September figure for five years.
However, in a speech at the the Birmingham Regional Investment Summit, her economic outlook remained positive.
On Tuesday, she said: “I want our economy to grow faster… no one is forecasting a recession for the UK.”
“Our economy is strong and the investments that we are securing and bringing to Britain, the trade deals that we’re doing, the planning reform we’re making, is all about bringing more good jobs paying decent wages to all parts of the uk, including here in the West Midlands.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves at the Regional Investment Summit in Birmingham.
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Reeves also failed to rule out raising taxes in the budget and that the speculation over it was “ridiculous”.
She went on: “We’re still awaiting the final forecast from the Office of Budget Responsibility and I’ll set out the budget next month.
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“There’s a lot of people who claim to know what is going to be in that budget and what the numbers will say. They don’t. It’s my budget and they are my choices.
“Frankly, some of the speculation is both ridiculous and in some cases, damaging, because it’s encouraging people to make decisions that are not the right ones and based on speculation rather than facts.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves speaking at the Regional Investment Summit at Edgbaston Stadium.
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She also said Brexit made the UK’s economy and productivity “weaker” than initially forecast when the UK voted to leave the European Union but stressed “the past doesn’t define our future”.
“I am determined that the past doesn’t define our future and that we do achieve that economic growth and productivity with good jobs in all parts of the country.
“Which is why I’m so pleased that today we’re able to secure £10 billion of regional investment, while last month we secured £150 billion of investment from the US. And why we’re making it easier to do business in the UK through deregulation, through planning reform and also reform to our capital markets.
“You can see that paying off with more and more investment coming to the uk, which is all about more good jobs paying decent wages, not just in some parts of the country, but right across the uk, including here in the West Midlands.”