British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said Britain’s vote to leave the EU is likely to lead to further volatility in financial markets, but said the world’s fifth-biggest economy would cope with the challenge ahead.
Osborne, who was speaking publicly for the first time since Britain voted to leave the bloc on Thursday last week, said the government has put in place robust contingency plans and there is more action that it and the Bank of England could take.
“Our economy is about as strong as it could be to confront the challenge our country now faces,” he told a news conference at the British Ministry of Finance yesterday.
Photo: Bloomberg
Osborne’s future as chancellor of the exchequer has come under question after he was on the losing side in the referendum.
During the campaign, he said he would have to raise taxes and cut spending in the event of a vote to leave the EU.
Yesterday, he said the government should wait until the successor to British Prime Minister David Cameron is in place before deciding on how to change its fiscal plans in response to an expected slowdown of the economy.
Cameron said on Friday last week that he would stand down, but would stay in the job until his successor was in place in October.
“There will be an adjustment in our economy because of the decision that the British people have taken,” Osborne said.
“There will have to be action to deal with the impact on the public finances, but of course it is perfectly sensible to wait until we have a new prime minister to determine what that will look like,” he added.
Sterling, which fell more than 8 percent against the US dollar on Friday last week, trimmed some of its losses yesterday as Osborne spoke.
Osborne, who was once the favorite to succeed Cameron, said he would clarify his political future in the coming days.
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