By Daniel Hunter
Chancellor George Osborne has said that he will not need to raise taxes to meet deficit reduction targets after the next election.
Mr Osborne, speaking in front of the Treasury Committee, said he would be able to cut borrowing through spending cuts alone.
He went on to say that his original plan to cut the deficit with 80% spending cuts and 20% tax rises were only ever a guide.
"I am clear that tax increases are not required to achieve [further consolidation]. It can be achieved with spending reductions," Mr Osborne told MPs.
Regarding Labour, he said: "I'm not sure whether they would do big tax increases. I suspect they would, but that is for them to explain."
Last month, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), a think tank, suggested Mr Osborne would have to raise taxes by £6bn to maintain a 80%-20% split between cuts and tax rises.
But the chancellor told the Committee that the coalition had made no agreement on the mix of cuts and taxes beyond 2015-16.
He told MPs: "I'm a low-tax conservative who believes we could have lower taxes, but I think they should be sustainably lower. I'm not for deficit-financed tax cuts, that you end up having to increase taxes later to clear up the mess you have made of the public finances."
Join us on
Follow @freshbusiness
