|
The
economy will remain 3% smaller in five years' time than it would
have been without the damage wrought by the coronavirus crisis
and extra support was needed now as the country remains under
coronavirus restrictions, he said.
Among the new support measures was a five-month extension of his
huge jobs rescue plan and more help for the self-employed, the
continuation of an emergency increase in welfare payments, and
an extension of a VAT cut for the hospitality sector.
"First, we will continue doing whatever it takes to support the
British people and businesses through this moment of crisis,"
Sunak told parliament.
"Second, once we are on the way to recovery, we will need to
begin fixing the public finances – and I want to be honest today
about our plans to do that. And, third, in today's Budget we
begin the work of building our future economy."
Announcing forecasts by the Office for Budgetary Responsibility
(OBR), Sunak said the economy was likely to grow by 4% in 2021,
slower than a forecast of 5.5% made in November.
Looking further ahead, the OBR forecast gross domestic product
would grow 7.3%, 1.7% and 1.6% in 2022, 2023 and 2024
respectively. In November, the OBR had forecast growth in those
years of 6.6%, 2.3% and 1.7%.
Sunak promised to do "whatever it takes", including a five-month
extension of a huge jobs rescue plan, to steer the economy
through what he hopes will be the final months of pandemic
restrictions.
He has already racked up Britain's highest borrowing since World
War Two and was due to say that the task of fixing the public
finances will only begin once a recovery is in sight, according
to excerpts of his speech released on Tuesday.
($1 = 0.7156 pounds)
(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Catherine Evans)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
