Philip Hammond ‘won’t need to introduce new taxes’ to pay for £20bn NHS bonanza

PHILIP Hammond doesn’t need to introduce any NEW taxes this year to pay for the NHS bonanza – City experts declared.

In a huge boost for hard-up Brits, figures showed borrowing between April and August was £17.8billion – £8billion lower than a year ago.

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And analysts said borrowing was on course to fall to as low as £28billion for 2018-2019 – almost £10billion below forecasts earlier this Spring.

It came despite a rise in borrowing for August – as corporation tax receipts at the Treasury plunged by almost 6 per cent.

Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon said even in the “worse case” borrowing will be £5billion better than expected for the year.

He said: “At the very least the Chancellor won’t need to announce offsetting tax rises to fund the extra money that has been earmarked for the NHS.”

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And Andrew Wishart at Capital Economics declared: “We think the fiscal watchdog is likely to revise down borrowing forecasts.

“This will give the Chancellor room to deliver the promised increase in health expenditure without having to increase taxes or make cuts elsewhere.”

Theresa May has vowed to pour an extra £20billion into the NHS over the next four years – equivalent to £5billion a year.

Experts said the Chancellor will likely be able to fund at least the first two years’ of the NHS cash without having to raise more money – and still meet his targets for 2020-2021.

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The Treasury has incensed Tory MPs in recent weeks with a series of high profile hints about higher taxes.

Philip Hammond last week said freezing fuel duty for the rest of the Parliament would ‘cost’ the Treasury £38 billion – “twice as much as we spend on all NHS nurses and doctors each year”.

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The Sun last week separately revealed the Treasury was preparing to slap tax on soft drinks and milkshakes served up by fast food giants as part of its war on plastic.

In a statement yesterday the Chancellor praised the “hard work of the British people” for helping repair the nation’s finances.

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