Taxes are likely to be raised after the Tories left the public finances in a dire state, Rachel Reeves has admitted.

The Chancellor has warned the public that "difficult decisions" will need to be made in the Budget on October 30. On Monday she accused the Tory government of covering up a £22billion black hole in the public finances. Some economists have questioned whether her dire warnings pave the way for tax increases in the Autumn Statement.

In the clearest sign yet of her plans, Ms Reeves on Tuesday evening said "I think that we will have to increase taxes in the Budget" when asked whether they would be raised. Appearing on the News Agents podcast, she repeatedly dodged questions on whether increases related to inheritance tax, pension reform and capital gains tax.

Asked whether they could be raised, Ms Reeves said: "We had in our manifesto a commitment to fiscal rules to balance day-to-day spending through tax receipts, and by the end of the forecast period to get debt down as a share of GDP. Those are sensible fiscal rules to keep a grip of the public finances. We also made other commitments in our manifesto, not to increase national insurance, VAT, or income tax for the duration, and we'll stick with those."

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Ms Reeves on Monday delivered the findings of an audit on Government spending that she ordered when she entered office. She told MPs: "Before the election, I said that we would face the worst inheritance since the Second World War. Taxes at a 70-year high, debt through the roof, an economy only just coming out of recession. I knew all of these things. I was honest about them during the campaign." But, she added there were things the Tories had "covered up from the country".

Ms Reeves said she had found a £22billion black hole which included a £6.4billion in unfunded commitments on the asylum system and £1.6billion in the transport budget. Other crises she said need addressing include the scale of overcrowding in prisons.

The new Chancellor needs to find money to pay for public sector pay rises, as well as find funding for struggling public services, from the NHS to prisons. She also has compensation bills for victims of the infected blood scandal and subpostmasters wrongly accused of swindling cash. Economists have warned she'll need to make big cuts to public spending if she doesn't find cash elsewhere.