REUTERS, London

Britain’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss on Wednesday readied the final details of a plan to tackle soaring energy bills, which looks likely to cool inflation but add more than 100 billion pounds ($115 billion) to the country’s borrowing.

On her first full day as Britain’s leader after replacing Boris Johnson, Truss told parliament she would support businesses and households who are bracing for a recession that is forecast to start later this year.

Sterling fell to its lowest level against the US dollar since 1985, in part due to worries among investors about the scale of debt that Britain will have to sell to fund the energy support plan, and the tax cuts that Truss has also promised.

A source familiar with the situation told Reuters that Truss was considering freezing energy bills in a plan that could cost towards 100 billion pounds, a major turnaround from her rejection of “handouts” during the early stages of the Conservative Party leadership campaign.

Deutsche Bank said the energy price support and the promised tax cuts could cost 179 billion pounds, or about half Britain’s historic pandemic spending push which dealt a blow to the country’s public finances.

Truss ruled out demands by the opposition Labour Party that she fund some of the spending by raising taxes on energy firms.