Balls calls for emergency VAT cut
The shadow chancellor has called on the government to cut VAT to stimulate the economy
THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS to implement a temporary emergency VAT cut to stimulate the economy, shadow chancellor Ed Balls has said.
Balls told attendees at the London School of Economics that the government’s strategy of cuts will result in bigger tax increases and more spending cuts.
The shadow chancellor said the VAT cut would help consumers who are being squeezed by a combination of rising prices and rising taxes, especially pensioners and those on low and fixed incomes.
“The inevitable increase in consumer confidence would help the struggling retail sector. It would help to push down inflation, and so reduce the risk of a recovery-choking interest rate rise later this year,” he said.