He said he understood people were tired of the "long slog" of spending cuts, but added: "We have to live within our means and more borrowing... is not the solution."
"We have never said we won't raise some taxes," he said, but added that overall the government wanted to keep them low.
The government's plan remained to clear the deficit by the middle of the next Parliament "in a way that's sensitive to the needs of the economy", he added.