Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves takes a question from a journalist after speaking to nurses and members of the media during a visit to University College London Hospital in London, Britain, November 26, 2025. Adrian Dennis/Pool via REUTERS

LONDON (Reuters) -British finance minister Rachel Reeves on Thursday rejected criticisms that her annual budget had raised taxes to fund higher welfare spending.

Reeves also told Times Radio that she intended to take further measures to boost the British economy.

"There's plenty more that I'm going to do to grow our economy and make working people better off," Reeves said.

Reeves' budget plan announced on Wednesday included big tax increases to reassure bond investors that she can meet her borrowing targets while also funding the higher welfare spending demanded by lawmakers in the governing Labour Party.

The removal of a two-child limit on welfare for poor families was one of the big new spending items in the plan.

Analysts have said much of the higher public spending is due over the next few years while the bulk of the tax increases will only kick in towards the end of the decade.

Reeves told Sky News that she also continued to have confidence in Richard Hughes, the head of Britain's budget watchdog, after the early publication by his agency of a detailed assessment of the annual budget ahead of her speech to parliament.

(Reporting by Muvija M; Writing by William Schomberg and Catarina Demony; Editing by Kate Holton)