George Osborne admits recovery is taking longer than expected and government will miss economic targets

George Osborne admitted it was taking longer for Britain to recover from the financial crisis than he hoped today amid warnings that the Government would miss its key economic targets..

The Chancellor also warned the rich would pay more when he unveils his Autumn Statement on Wednesday but ruled out Lib Dem proposals for a mansion tax.

Mr Osborne said the independent Office for Budget Responsibility would report on Wednesday on whether the Government would meet its economic goals.

"We had two targets, one was to get debt share falling as a share of national income by 2015/16 and also to balance the current budget," he told BBC 1's Andrew Marr Show.

"It is clearly taking longer to deal with Britain's debts, it's clearly taking longer to recover from the financial crisis than one would have hoped but we have made real progress.

"The deficit is down by a quarter, there are a million more jobs in the private sector and to turn back now, to go back to the borrowing and the debt and the spending that (shadow chancellor) Ed Balls represents would be a complete disaster for our country."