UK Finance Minister Pledges Job Growth and Fiscal Discipline Ahead of Next Month's Budget
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UK Finance Minister Healey, speaking on the 28th at the annual conference of the governing Labour Party in Liverpool in northwest England, promised to expand employment and "get Britain working again," while stressing a commitment to restraining borrowing and upholding the government's fiscal discipline. In the speech, delivered ahead of next month's budget announcement, Healey pointed out that Britain is entering a "new era of industrialisation" driven by technology and defence, expressing determination to revive sluggish economic growth, while cautioning that given high debt-servicing costs and difficult fiscal conditions, the government has limited resources available for policy. In the UK, the number of young people not in work has reached about 1 million, and Healey set out plans to make expanding job opportunities and vocational training programmes a pillar of government policy. These efforts are part of Prime Minister Burnham's push to curb social security spending; social security spending in the previous fiscal year reached a record 324 billion pounds, or 429 billion dollars, in real terms, equivalent to 11 percent of gross domestic product. Several senior government officials have also indicated that, with the UK's long-term borrowing costs at their highest levels since the 1990s, the budget to be announced on October 28 will prioritise securing the confidence of the bond market.