span>span>Wednesday 6th March 2024/span>span> - 14:30 (GMT)/span>/span>
li>A further 2p reduction in national insurance from 10% to 8% from April, on top of the 2p cut announced in November 2023/li>
li>Day-to-day public spending increase kept at 1% above inflation/li>
li>Extra £2.5bn for NHS this year along with “landmark public sector productivity plan” – cutting form-filling by doctors using AI, digitising hospital processes and improving NHS app/li>
li>Windfall tax on oil and gas extended from 2028 to 2029 – raising an expected extra £1.5bn/li>
li>Non-dom status abolished and replaced by a more “modern, simpler and fairer” system/li>
li>Child benefit salary threshold increased from £50,000 to £60,000/li>
li>Existing fuel & alcohol duty freeze extended beyond the end of this month/li>
li>Vaping products levy to be introduced on vape liquids along with an equal increase in tobacco duty/li>
The chancellor also revealed the Office for Budget Responsibility now predicts inflation to reach the government target of 2% in a "matter of months". The OBR also predicts the UK economy will grow by 0.8% in 2024, up from previous estimates of 0.7% and putting it amongst the best-performing G7 economies.
The main surprise delivered by the chancellor was a reduction in higher rate of capital gains tax on residential property from 28% to 24%. The hope is this will help increase the number of transactions, leading to more tax revenue.
The lack of unexpected announcements also leaves the door open for one more budget ahead of the next General election which must be held no later than the 28th January 2025. Leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, threw the gauntlet down for the government to announce an election as early as May, following bullish readings for the Labour party in recent opinion polls.
Sterling demand remained unchanged following the various announcements and is currently trading around $1.27 against the US dollar and €1.17 against the euro. Attentions now turning to tomorrow’s interest rate announcement by the European Central Bank, with policymaker expected to hold current levels despite falling inflation across the EU.
