U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson risks strangling growth with higher taxes on business to fix the public finances in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s biggest business lobby said. The blunt criticism comes less than a week after Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak raised payroll levies on workers and companies to help fund health spending. But at a time of ultra-low government borrowing costs and a recovery that’s starting to stumble, many have questioned the timing. “I am deeply worried the government thinks that taxing business — perhaps more politically palatable — is without consequence to growth,” Confederation of British Industry director general Tony Danker said in a speech yesterday. “It’s not. Raising business taxes too far has always been self-defeating as it stymies further investment.” Danker’s remarks highlight the growing unease among corporate leaders about Johnson’s approach toward business. Companies are also concerned about labor shortages and supply chain delays in the wake of Brexit, and have long sought reforms to business rates levied on shops. Johnson will attempt to reach out to business by announcing plans to support 425,000 jobs a year over the next four years, as part of a previously-announced 650 billion-pound (US$900 billion) package of private and public investment in infrastructure projects over the next decade. The Treasury will also publish a new jobs update, setting out how people and businesses have been supported through the pandemic. (SD-Agencies) | 