LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Rishi Sunak, under pressure to meet election promises to voters and fight the spread of coronavirus, has said he is looking at possible changes to budget rules which would give him more room to increase spending.
The Sunday Telegraph quoted Sunak - who is due to deliver Britain’s first post-Brexit budget on Wednesday - as saying that he was studying “with interest” proposals to reclassify some government spending as investment.
That would give him more room for manoeuvre with spending on day-to-day services, including on health.
Sunak declined to confirm that he would stick with fiscal rules set by his predecessor Sajid Javid, the newspaper said.
Sunak has been expected to relax a limit on day-to-day spending which was set by Javid before he resigned last month after a row with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s over the appointment of advisors.
The 39 year-old former Goldman Sachs banker said he was ready to give the country’s health service whatever help it needs to tackle the spread of coronavirus.
“The good news is that we are well prepared,” Sunak told Sky News in a separate interview, broadcast on Sunday. “The economy is in a good place and we will get through this.”
Sunak said his budget plan would offer help to companies suffering short-term cashflow problems because of coronavirus.
Sunak also told the Sunday Telegraph that he wanted “lower rates of tax” during his time in office.
He said he was looking at objections to transaction taxes such as Britain’s stamp duty which is applied to the purchase of properties, suggesting it could be changed in a future budget.
Sunak said there would be no extension of the Brexit transition period, which is due to end on Dec. 31, because of the impact of coronavirus which he said represented a short-term challenge.
