Hunt told a gathering of senior business people on Tuesday that the UK is in a “very challenging situation.”
The UK is at the start of a lengthy recession, according to the Bank of England, which hiked interest rates by 75 basis points Thursday in a bid to tackle inflation. Hunt has dismantled Kwarteng’s tax-cutting and spending plans. He and new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have instead prepared the ground for widescale tax rises and cuts to public spending, to be announced in a fiscal statement on Nov. 17.
Personal and business taxes would rise and some public spending would be cut, he told the gathering of chief executives and politicians at Claridge’s Hotel hosted by The Sunday Times. Hunt said he took on the challenge because he is “fantastically optimistic about the future of this country.”