Jeremy Hunt is today unveiling his first Budget. He has told the Commons that his Budget will help deliver on Rishi Sunak’s five priorities that the Prime Minister set out in January: namely halving inflation, reducing the national debt and increasing growth. Hunt has reprised much of his Bloomberg speech from January with championing the ‘four Es’ of ‘enterprise, education, employment, everywhere.’
The Office of Budget Responsibility predicts the UK to avoid a recession this year, with a contraction of 0.2 per cent. Inflation is expected to fall to 2.9 per cent from 10.7 at the end of 2022. The OBR forecasts growth of 1.8 per cent for next year and then 2.5 per cent the following year. However real living standards are still expected to fall by a cumulative 5.7 per cent in 2022-23 and 2023-24 – the largest fall in living standards since records began in 1956-57.
Below are some of the headline measures:
- Hunt will increase the pensions annual tax-free allowance from £40,000 to £60,000 and will abolish the Lifetime Allowance – previously set at £1.07m.
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