span>span>Wednesday 23rd March /span>span>2022/span>span> - 14:05 (GMT)/span>/span>
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li>A 5p cut per litre on fuel duty/li>
li>A rise in income threshold before paying National Insurance/li>
li>VAT cut on energy efficient products such as solar panels and heat pumps/li>
Mr Sunak also pledged to cut the basic rare of income tax from 20p to 19p before the end of this parliament, further fuelling speculation regarding his own personal ambitions to run as leader of the Conservative Party during the next general election.
Borrowing as a percentage of GDP is expected to fall from 83.5% in 2022/23 to 79.8% in 2026/27, whilst the government is forecast to spend £83bn on debt interest in the next financial year - the highest amount ever recorded.
The announcement did little to move GBP as it continues to recover following the broader currency sell-off earlier this month due to the conflict in Ukraine.
Elsewhere, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned that living standards within the UK could fall at the fastest pace since records began in 1954. It comes against a backdrop of surging inflation expected to average 7.4% during 2022, peaking around 9% at the end of the year.
The OBR also nearly halved UK growth forecasts for the year ahead from 6% to 3.8%, whilst 2023’s output is expected to be even lower at just 1.8% before recovering in 2024.
