Chancellor says UK needs targeted investment to offset Brexit

Britains Chancellor of Exchequer Philip Hammond applauds as Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at the annual Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, Britain, October 2, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville

BERMINGHAM: Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said the UK government must drop its commitment to balancing the budget to allow “carefully targeted” investment, offsetting the economic shock that is forecast because of Brexit.

“Anecdotally we hear of businesses postponing investment decisions,” Hammond told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday at his Conservative Party’s annual conference in Birmingham, central England. “If we don’t intervene to counteract that effect in time, that will have an effect on jobs.”