Britain should be seen in the same category of countries as Greece and Spain, who are facing severe debt problems, a leading economist has said.
Ex-IMF chief economist Simon Johnson, also described the G7 group of leading economies as "fundamentally useless".
His comments to the BBC came as G7 finance ministers discussed the growing crisis in some Eurozone nations.
Treasury sources said all three major credit rating agencies had reaffirmed the UK's triple A credit status. (AtW's comment: were these the same agencies that rated subprime junk as AAA? Surely not...)
One of the major concerns about a country having large budget deficits is that it cannot spend sufficiently to boost its economy.
Although the UK did officially come out of recession in the fourth quarter of 2009 - ending six consecutive quarters of economic decline - the growth was just 0.1%, much less than expected.
"It is right that borrowing has been allowed to rise so that the government has been able to protect the economy from the global downturn," a Treasury spokesman said.
"But, supporting the economy through to recovery goes hand-in-hand with steps to rebuild fiscal strength once recovery is firmly established. (AtW's translation - taxes would have to go up...)
"That is why the government has set out a clear plan to halve the deficit over the next four years, while protecting the frontline services that people depend on."
More from BBC.
Ex-IMF chief economist Simon Johnson, also described the G7 group of leading economies as "fundamentally useless".
His comments to the BBC came as G7 finance ministers discussed the growing crisis in some Eurozone nations.
Treasury sources said all three major credit rating agencies had reaffirmed the UK's triple A credit status. (AtW's comment: were these the same agencies that rated subprime junk as AAA? Surely not...)
One of the major concerns about a country having large budget deficits is that it cannot spend sufficiently to boost its economy.
Although the UK did officially come out of recession in the fourth quarter of 2009 - ending six consecutive quarters of economic decline - the growth was just 0.1%, much less than expected.
"It is right that borrowing has been allowed to rise so that the government has been able to protect the economy from the global downturn," a Treasury spokesman said.
"But, supporting the economy through to recovery goes hand-in-hand with steps to rebuild fiscal strength once recovery is firmly established. (AtW's translation - taxes would have to go up...)
"That is why the government has set out a clear plan to halve the deficit over the next four years, while protecting the frontline services that people depend on."
More from BBC.
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