London, March 13

British Finance Minister George Osborne warned today of further spending cuts to come in the

government budget to be unveiled this week.

The chancellor of the exchequer said he needed to find savings by 2020 equivalent to 50 pence in every £100 the government spends.

“The world is a more uncertain place than at any time since the financial crisis and we need

to act now so we don’t pay later,” he told BBC television.

“That’s why I need to find additional savings equivalent to 50 pence in every £100 the government spends by the end of the decade because we have got to live within our means to stay secure and that’s the way we make Britain fit for the future.”

But he said the cuts are ‘not a huge amount in the scheme of things’.

Osborne had slowed the pace of austerity cuts in his last spending review in November but has now clearly signalled fresh reductions are on the cards in Wednesday’s budget.

Official figures out last month showed that Britain’s economy slowed sharply last year.

Osborne said £18 billion had been revised off Britain’s nominal GDP.