Emergency budget to ‘save’ Britain from fate of debt-stricken Greece

THE biggest threat to Britain’s economy is its huge budget deficit, and an emergency budget tomorrow will save the country from the fate of debt- stricken Greece, British finance minister George Osborne said yesterday.

Measures expected to be included in the budget include a pay freeze for Britain’s six-million-strong public sector, a £3 billion (€3.6bn) bank levy and welfare benefit reform. Other plans include payroll tax breaks for new businesses and reform of public sector pensions.

“You can see in Greece an example of a country that didn’t face up to its problems, and that is the fate that I want to avoid,” Osborne told the BBC.