Britain's Chancellor Philip Hammond arrives at Downing Street in central London, Britain October 31, 2016. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth
LONDON: British finance minister Philip Hammond will announce only a modest fiscal stimulus in the first post-Brexit vote budget statement later this month but will allow for more aggressive spending in future if needed, the Financial Times reported.
The newspaper said Hammond told fellow ministers on Tuesday to expect extra infrastructure spending in the "low billions" of pounds in his Nov. 23 Autumn Statement.
Spending could be ramped up if the economy shows signs of strain under Hammond's plans for a flexible fiscal framework to help the country cope with the effects of the June decision by voters to leave the European Union, the report said.
Hammond has previously said that he was prepared to give the economy support if needed to offset the effects of Brexit-related uncertainty.
He has also scrapped the plan of his predecessor George Osborne to turn Britain's budget deficit into a surplus by 2020.
The FT said Hammond would aim to bring the public finances into balance during the five-year term of the parliament that will be elected in 2020.
A spokeswoman for the finance ministry declined to comment on the report.
