This comes after S&P Global warned that the UK will perform worse next year than other major economies as inflation remains higher than in Europe and the US.
S&P has revised down its growth rate forecast for 2024 to 0.4%, a 0.1 percentage point reduction from the previous forecast. Even Germany is expected to outperform the UK next year as the manufacturing recession eases.
Mr Hunt said the predictions of many forecasters and commentators so far, including the government’s own independent forecasters, had been too pessimistic.
The Prime Minister said: “What we must not lose is that despite many venerable magazines saying we are going to hell in a wheelbarrow, we are constantly misleading the expectations of this country and we are The fact is that we are doing much better than everyone says.”
“A year ago, all the experts were saying the economy was going to shrink. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) announced it would shrink by 1.4%. [predicted to] Increased by 0.6%. That’s a 2% difference in just one year. ”
Mr Hunt said entrepreneurs including Elon Musk had praised the UK’s status as a hub for investment in artificial intelligence, and that the UK’s education system was the envy of the world.
The Prime Minister expressed his willingness to expand public investment if the economy improves further. “I don’t think we want public investment to decline. I hope we get to a situation where that doesn’t happen,” he said.
It comes after Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer suggested he would not “turn on the spending tap” even if he won the next election.