At spring budget, Britain to press on with commitment of financial stability

[LONDON] British Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt will deliver his spring budget in parliament on Mar 15, and all eyes are on whether he will use the second major fiscal statement of his time as finance minister to relax the UK government’s austerity strategy.

Tax revenues have been outpacing government spending in a stagnant economy that only barely avoided falling into a recession as latest data showed growth flatlining. Last December, the UK economy contracted by 0.5 per cent after seeing an expansion of 0.1 per cent and 0.55 per cent in the previous two months.

Despite the gloomy numbers, huge energy profits along with wage increases have boosted taxation. Energy prices are also down, and this has allowed the government to reduce its spending on subsidies, except for the poorest groups.