Britain's economy is back, says chancellor

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says Britain's system is "back", and that his strategy for maturation has been welcomed astatine the International Monetary Fund gathering successful Washington.

His predecessor, Kwasi Kwarteng, near the erstwhile IMF gathering successful October early, amid a barrage of criticism.

Mr Hunt said the planetary lending assemblage saw helium was "putting the British system backmost connected the close track".

However, the latest figures amusement the UK system failed to turn successful February.

When challenged implicit whether the UK's existent show undermined his affirmative message, Mr Hunt said: "It's different concern ministers who are telling maine Britain is back".

Britain's system has lone conscionable recovered to the size it was anterior to the pandemic, pursuing months of concern action, rapidly rising prices and labour shortages.

On Friday nurses successful the RCN national rejected the connection of a 5% wage emergence and said they planned to onslaught again astatine the commencement of May. Meanwhile, NHS inferior doctors successful England are presently staging a four-day walkout implicit pay, ending astatine 07:00 connected Saturday.

However, Mr Hunt said it was important to debar fuelling further ostentation done wage rises. He said Britain had avoided recession this twelvemonth "so far", and that helium hoped to spot faster maturation and falling ostentation successful the months ahead.

Measures successful his March Budget to assistance businesses enlistee much unit and to summation investment, including an summation successful childcare funding, should stimulate growth, helium added.

Investor assurance successful the UK was shaken past twelvemonth during the short-lived authorities of premier curate Liz Truss, which saw Mr Kwarteng contiguous an economical strategy that included large taxation cuts without an mentation of however they would beryllium funded.

The outlook for the UK, which relies heavy connected fiscal services, could beryllium clouded by existent uncertainty successful the banking sector, pursuing the illness of 3 US banks and UBS's exigency takeover of Credit Suisse.

However, Mr Hunt said the UK had "a precise robust, resilient banking system", which was present successful a overmuch amended presumption than it was earlier the 2008 fiscal crisis.

"Am I assured successful the resilience of our banking system, the 2nd largest fiscal services centre successful the world?' Yes, I am," helium said.

While the authorities is considering reforming immoderate of the rules governing fiscal services, enactment successful spot aft 2008, Mr Hunt said the program was "absolutely not to unlearn the lessons of the fiscal crisis".

"We are looking astatine each of these things, but we're not going to bash it successful a mode that rows backmost connected immoderate of the precise important protections that we person successful place," helium said.

But helium said the maturation of the UK's tech and beingness sciences industries meant regulations needed to adapt.

"We person a batch of precocious maturation companies successful the UK, and they request to person banking services that suit their needs. And that's a quality from a decennary ago," helium said.