LONDON (Reuters) – British finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday that the new 15 billion pounds ($19 billion) cost-of-living support package would have less than 1 percentage point impact on inflation.
“My view is that it will have a minimal impact on inflation,” Sunak told Sky News.
Asked if it would be a one percentage point impact, he said: “Much, much less than that.”
Sunak has announced a 25% windfall tax on oil and gas producers’ profits to partially fund the government’s measures to help families with rising costs.
Asked about a possible windfall tax on electricity generators, Sunak referred to his statement on Thursday, which said the government was looking at profits in the industry.
“What we want to do and we are going to do urgently is understand the scale of those profits, and then decide on the appropriate next steps,” he told Sky News.
($1 = 0.7913 pounds)
(Reporting by William James, writing by Muvija M; editing by Michael Holden)
