AFP/London  The government unveils its annual budget on Wednesday, expected to focus on nurturing economic growth in the face of deep spending cuts and tax hikes aimed at slashing the nation’s huge deficit. Finance Minister George Osborne unveils his 2011-12 tax and spend plans amid fears that his drastic belt-tightening measures could tip Britain back into recession. Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, which rose to power in May 2010, has sought to slash a record public deficit that it inherited from the previous Labour administration. Chancellor of the Exchequer Osborne wasted no time in delivering economic pain, via an emergency budget last year amid intense concern on global markets over sky-high levels of debt in the eurozone. “Last year’s emergency budget was a rescue mission, bringing us back from the brink of fiscal disaster and we will stick to the course that we have set out,” Osborne said earlier this week. “The mission of this year’s budget will be to move from rescue to reform, because if we want Britain to succeed in the new global economy and we want to create the high-quality jobs of the future, then we need to overcome some of the deep-rooted and long-standing weaknesses of the British economy.” He added: “We have already made a strong start, with reform of education, welfare and energy; new investment in science; and setting out a clear path towards a more competitive tax system. “Next week’s budget will mark the next phase of our plan for growth. The foundation of that plan must be fiscal responsibility.”Ahead of the budget, Osborne was comforted by supportive data and praise from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Fitch Ratings over his swift action to slash state borrowing. However, some economists remain sceptical over Osborne’s ability to focus on growth in this week’s budget. “We would expect that the budget will be packaged as a ‘Budget for Growth’,” said Investec economist Philip Shaw. “Whether it contains any measures that make a material difference is debatable.