The UK is to become a world-leading financial centre by the end of this decade.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte, speaking at a press conference in London on Monday, said the country would be the world’s financial capital by 2020.
The move was announced on Monday by UK Finance Minister Charles Hendry.
He said the UK was in the midst of a historic transformation and it was the first time since the 1970s that it was a global financial centre.
“We have transformed the UK into a world economic capital and now it is time to continue to do that,” Mr Hendry said.
The UK will become a global centre of financial services within five years.
The government says the UK’s new financial centre will be a hub of activity for the world economy and create up to 1 million new jobs over the next five years, and create more than 100,000 new jobs in the UK.
“The government has put in place an ambitious plan to transform the UK, and to do so in a way that maximises economic growth and prosperity,” Mr Rutte said.
“In five years time we will become the world financial capital.”
The move comes at a time of rapid economic growth, with the UK economy expanding by a third in the last year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
It is expected to be the UKs fastest-growing economy in a decade, up to 6.1% in 2020 from 5.5% in 2019.
Mr Rutt said the government was committed to building a “firm, sustainable, global economy”, and he announced that the government would spend £2.5 billion to boost the UK in its digital economy, to help businesses and the public sector meet the digital challenges of the future.
“Our Government is committed to supporting the UK to become the global financial capital and is spending millions of pounds to accelerate its digital transformation,” he said.