Britain’s chancellor Rachel Reeves inherited a deeply troubled economy: slow growth, strained public services and high debt. After months of confidence-sapping speculation, at Wednesday’s Budget she delivered a budget that was dramatic in scale: around £40bn in higher taxes — the largest increase for a generation — £70bn in higher spending, and £30bn more in borrowing, per year. This marks a turning point for Britain, towards a significantly stronger role for the state in its economic model, with the tax-to-GDP ratio set to rise to a postwar high by the end of the decade. Much of the tax burden is set to fall on business.
英國財政大臣蕾切爾•里夫斯(Rachel Reeves)接手的是一個深陷困境的經濟：成長緩慢、公共服務緊張、債務高企。經過幾個月打擊信心的猜測之後，她在週三公佈了一份規模巨大的預算案：每年增加稅收約400億英鎊（一代人中增幅最大的一次）、增加支出700億英鎊、增加借貸300億英鎊。這標誌着英國進入了一個轉折點，政府在經濟模式中將扮演更重要的角色，到本十年末，稅收佔國內生產總值(GDP)的比率將升至戰後最高水準。大部分稅收負擔將落在企業身上。