Finance minister Jeremy Hunt said on Sunday he had to raise taxes and cut spending to showBritain can fix its public finances but poorer households should be spared much of the pain and cuts to public services would be done in a balanced way.
Speaking before announcing a budget plan on Thursday, Hunt said he did not want to aggravate an expected recession but he had to show he could lower a budget deficit which has soared after the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"You don't want to do things that make any recession that you may be in worse. But on the other hand, if you do nothing, if you don't show that we're going to bring our debt down over time ... interest rates get higher and you get a recession that's made worse," Hunt told Sky News on Sunday.
After a bond market rout triggered by a string of unfunded tax cuts in the "mini-budget" of former prime minister Liz Truss in September, Hunt and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak say they will take tough decisions to restore Britain's economic credibility.
"We're all going to be paying a bit more tax, I'm afraid, but it's not just going to be bad news," Hunt told Sky News.
He said a strong economy needed good public services and he would approach spending cuts in a "balanced way".
"Strong public services, which we all want, need a strong economy, so you have to take difficult decisions. But it's also true that a strong economy needs good public services ... So we'll approach this in a balanced way."
Hunt also said he would set out a long-term plan for energy after Russia's invasion of Ukraine led to a surge in gas prices which has forced the government to spending tens of billions of pounds to shield households from the worst of the surge. (