UK needs billions in buffer to end tax hikes

Fiscal deliberation: Commuters walk across London Bridge in central London. The November UK budget is set to be a defining moment for the government. — AFP

LONDON: Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves needs to raise her fiscal buffer fivefold to have a better-than-even chance of avoiding more tax rises and spending cuts in the coming years, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

Reeves may need to find as much as £22bil (US$29.4bil) at the budget next month just to restore the razor-thin £9.9bil margin she had in March, the influential think tank said in an report.