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18/03/2015
Osborne Delivers Pre-Election Budget
Chancellor George Osborne has said Britain is "walking tall again" following five years of coalition government. He made the statement as he unveiled the pre-election Budget in the House of Commons.
The key points of the Budget includes the Office for Budget Responsibility revealing the UK economy is growing at a faster rate than thought. It has revised its growth forecast accordingly. For 2015, the rate has increased from 2.4% to 2.5%, and for 2016 it has been revised to 2.3% from 2.2%.
Elsewhere, unemployment is set to fall by 0.1% to 5.3%, with the National Minimum Wage rising by 20p an hour to £6.70 from October 2015.
The bank levy meanwhile, has increased to 0.21%, raising an additional £900m a year, Mr Osborne said.
He added that "more generous" tax credits for TV and film are to be created, as well as further support for the video games industry, new tax credit for orchestras, and a consultation on tax support for local newspapers. Charities for British servicemen and women are to receive £75m, funded by Libor fines, while the fund for church roof appeals will be trebled, and an extension given to £8,000 in automatic gift aid to benefit 6,500 small charities. In addition, eight new enterprise zones across Britain, Corporation Tax is to be reduced to 20% in two weeks' time, and a planned fuel duty increase for September has been cancelled.
Mr Osborne's speech can be found in full here.
(JP/IT)
The key points of the Budget includes the Office for Budget Responsibility revealing the UK economy is growing at a faster rate than thought. It has revised its growth forecast accordingly. For 2015, the rate has increased from 2.4% to 2.5%, and for 2016 it has been revised to 2.3% from 2.2%.
Elsewhere, unemployment is set to fall by 0.1% to 5.3%, with the National Minimum Wage rising by 20p an hour to £6.70 from October 2015.
The bank levy meanwhile, has increased to 0.21%, raising an additional £900m a year, Mr Osborne said.
He added that "more generous" tax credits for TV and film are to be created, as well as further support for the video games industry, new tax credit for orchestras, and a consultation on tax support for local newspapers. Charities for British servicemen and women are to receive £75m, funded by Libor fines, while the fund for church roof appeals will be trebled, and an extension given to £8,000 in automatic gift aid to benefit 6,500 small charities. In addition, eight new enterprise zones across Britain, Corporation Tax is to be reduced to 20% in two weeks' time, and a planned fuel duty increase for September has been cancelled.
Mr Osborne's speech can be found in full here.
(JP/IT)
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