Chancellor Rishi Sunak said protecting jobs is his top priority as the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic continues.
Mr Sunak warned the country faced “hard choices” as it rebuilt the public finances during his speech at the virtual Conservative Party Conference on Monday, October 5.
But on Tuesday, Mr Sunak said: “My overall focus at the moment is trying to protect as many jobs as possible. What is happening in our economy at the moment is significant and severe, many people are losing their jobs.
“So the focus of my intention in the short term is doing what we can to support as much employment as possible.
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“Over time we need to have sustainable public finances. That is important to me, it is important to the Government, but in the short term the best way to have long-term sustainable public finances is to protect as much employment as possible.”
Mr Sunak was speaking during an interview on Sky News on Tuesday. He said that rebuilding the public purse would have to be achieved “over time” because the current record levels of Government borrowing are not sustainable in the long term.
But his immediate focus was on employment, he insisted.
Speaking later on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “It is the right approach in the short term to try and protect as much of the economy’s productive capacity as possible so that we can recover strongly.
“But you can’t sustain that level of borrowing. So once we get through the crisis we need to take stock.”
Mr Sunak said the Government’s general election manifesto promises not to raise income tax, VAT or National Insurance are “very important to us” but refused to be drawn on possible future tax rises.
“I can’t comment on future tax policy outside fiscal events,” he said.
