London - George Osborne will remain Britain's finance minister if the Conservative Party wins a closely-contested national election on May 7, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday.
Osborne has overseen Britain's economic policy since 2010, when he launched an austerity programme, fiercely criticised by some, designed to eliminate the country's deficit. He missed his fiscal targets, but Britain's $2.8 trillion economy has returned to growth ahead of the vote.
When asked in an interview with The Sun newspaper whether Osborne, who is sometimes talked about as a possible successor to Cameron, would remain in his role if the Conservatives won the election, Conservative leader Cameron said: “Absolutely - the team is the team.”
“You don't want to change the person who has driven our economic performance, and has been at the helm of it,” he said.
Osborne has set out a post-election fiscal plan to convert Britain's large budget deficit into a surplus in 2018/19 without increasing taxes, by cutting spending by government departments, and by slashing the welfare bill. His political opponents favour less stringent spending cuts and have looser fiscal targets.
Reuters