George Osborne: UK can become world's richest country in 15 years

The UK economy is set to become the largest in the world if the country sticks to George Osborne's plans, according to the chancellor himself.

Osborne has outlined a strategy which will require the government to run an overall budget surplus in normal times, and he claims that the economic future of Britain will be brighter if the public sticks with the Conservative party.

If they do so, "there is no reason why Britain cannot be the richest major economy in the world" within the next 15 years, claimed Osborne.

Speaking at the Royal Economic Society, he said that the UK has more reason to be optimistic and used figures to show the progress that the coalition government has made since coming into power in 2010.

Back then, the budget deficit was at 10% of the GDP and unemployment was at 8%. But Osborne added that the deficit is now at 5%, making it one of the fastest growing economies.

"The net result is that since 2010 fiscal consolidation has been accompanied by the third fastest GDP growth in the G7, and the fastest employment growth of any major advanced economy in the world," said the chancellor of the exchequer.

"In the early years of this Parliament a lot of focus was placed on whether fiscal consolidation was compatible with recovery; it is now clear that credible fiscal policy is a precondition for recovery, underpinning confidence and an activist monetary policy.

"If we are willing to take on the vested interests and pursue the right policies with consistency and discipline then there are no limits to what Britain can achieve."