London  - The British government Monday set out plans for a massive 20-billion-pound (30 billion dollars) programme to stimulate the economy as it heads for recession.

It proposed to cut value-added tax (VAT) on consumer goods from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent until the end of 2009, and announced an increase in the top tax rate for higher earners to 45 per cent.

The measures were aimed at tackling the effects of an "unprecedented global crisis," the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, told parliament.

They would make sure that the economic downturn would be "shorter and shallower" than would have been the case otherwise.

The package would push public sector borrowing to 118 billion pounds, or 8 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), next year. (dpa)