Jeremy Hunt acknowledged the latest GDP figures showing the UK economy entered a recession at the end of 2023 are “challenging” but insisted the Government’s plan is the “right thing to do” for growth in the long-term.
“Our plan has been to tackle inflation. First and foremost, that does mean higher interest rates,” he told BBC News.
“It’s the right thing to do for families because when they see the cost of their weekly shop go up, their energy bills go up, the cost of filling up the car going up, that creates real pressure.
“And until you relieve that pressure on families, we’re not going to see healthy growth, and when it comes to that battle against inflation, we are making much faster progress than many people predicted.”
He said that it was important “despite this challenging data, that we stick to a plan that is seeing inflation really start to fall.”