The Budget in twelve graphs

Jeremy Hunt has just delivered his second Budget as Chancellor. The top message the Chancellor wants to push is that Britain will avoid recession. But the Office for Budget Responsibility’s report suggests immigration may be the real story.

Among the policy announcements were an extension to the energy price guarantee, currently at £2,500, to July (effectively scrapping the price hike), committing £5 billion to fund free childcare for one and two year-olds and abolishing the pension Lifetime Allowance. But what else did we learn from today’s Budget?

1. The Chancellor began with good news: no recession. The UK economy will avoid a technical recession this year. The country’s economy will shrink by 0.2 per cent but this does not meet the two consecutive quarters definition accepted by economists. 

2. The UK is forecast to have the worst growth in the G7 this year but the best next year. Single year growth will go from being the worst in the G7 to the best over the next two years, according to the OBR.