The chancellor, who backed Britain’s exit from the EU, also told lawmakers Monday that he knew in advance that Brexit would affect trade, although such assumptions by Leave activists were rare in the 2016 referendum. “It has always been inevitable that if you change the exact nature of your trade relationship with the EU, it will always have an impact on trade flows,” Sunak told the House Finance Committee. His comments were a rare acknowledgment by the chancellor that his own political choice in 2016 contributed to Britain’s economic woes. The chancellor was answering questions about last week’s spring statement and was asked why Britain’s trade performance had failed to recover from the pandemic as quickly as all other advanced economies. Sunak said the picture remained unclear and that it was “too early to be final”, adding that Finance Ministry officials were trying to determine the exact causes. But Mel Strind, chairman of the Tories committee, asked if the main difference between Britain and the other G7 countries was “we went through Brexit and they did not”. Sunak replied: “It could very well be.” The Office for Budget Responsibility, the Independent Financial Supervisor, last week argued that “leaving the EU would result in the UK’s total imports and exports being 15 per cent lower than the UK had remains a Member State “. The OBR added: “This drop in trade volume in UK production is likely to reduce the level of potential productivity, although the magnitude of this effect is uncertain. “We assume that productivity is finally 4 percent lower after a period of 15 years.” A separate report from the Dutch Office for Economic Policy Analysis, part of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, found last week that the volume of UK exports of goods fell by 14 per cent in the three months to January, compared to the same period last year. 2020. This was in stark contrast to the global average of 8.2 percent growth over the same period. Sunak insisted on Monday that it was “a little early to be final” about why this happened. He said Britain would increase trade with other parts of the world over time, but acknowledged that this was not the case overnight. The chancellor, who has been widely criticized for failing to do enough to address the cost-of-living crisis in last week’s spring statement, defended his package to lawmakers. These included raising the national insurance premium limit, which would cost 6 6 billion, reducing 2, 2.4 billion in fuel tax and the prospect of reducing 5 5 billion in the key income tax rate in 2024.

Sunak said he would be ready to intervene again in the fall if domestic energy bills rise sharply. the OBR predicted that the energy price ceiling could be raised from £ 1,977 from 1 April to £ 2,800 in October. “He would act if needed” if energy bills rose again in the autumn, but he wanted to wait: “It is clearly very difficult today to speculate on energy prices in the autumn,” Sunak said. “Let’s wait until we get there.” He also said he felt “comfortable with the choices I made”, although in his Spring Statement there was not much to help people with very low incomes who were unable to work. The chancellor said that his main priority from now on is to reduce taxes and that he will resist the pressure for higher borrowing and higher spending, which, he said, risk fueling inflation.