UK finance minister pledges to ease austerity

Global Business

This is the fifth time Britain’s finance minister, George Osborne, has stepped out with his annual box of economic tricks. Never more critical though than on the eve of a general election. Economists largely agree there’s little economic wiggle room in the world’s sixth largest economy. CCTV’s Richard Bestic filed this report from London.

UK finance minister pledges to ease austerity

This is the fifth time Britain's finance minister, George Osborne, has stepped out with his annual box of economic tricks. Never more critical though than on the eve of a general election. Economists largely agree there's little economic wiggle room in the world's sixth largest economy. CCTV's Richard Bestic filed this report from London.

Highlights:

  • Britain’s deficit has been cut in half in the last five years, but government borrowing has reached more than two trillion dollars.
  • A crash in oil prices has helped, feeding through to record low inflation, but also triggering layoffs as investment dries up.