New UK finance minister Zahawi says we need to grow the economy

Britain's new finance minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Wednesday the government needed to rebuild and grow the country's struggling economy, and he would look at all options to do that.

"I will look at everything, there is nothing off the table," he told Sky News, when asked about possible tax cuts.

Britain's economy is showing signs of a slowdown as inflation heads for double-digits and it is forecast to be weaker than other big industrialised economies next year.


Zahawi also stressed the need for "fiscal discipline" and said the government would have to be careful about increases in public sector pay which could drive inflation higher.

"The important thing is to get inflation under control, be fiscally responsible," he told Sky News.

Zahawi was appointed on Tuesday by Prime Minister Boris Johnson hours after Rishi Sunak quit the job in protest at Johnson's "standards" and citing differences over economic policy with the prime minister.